We had the good fortune of connecting with Taylor Faulkner and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Taylor, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
To me art truly is life. I’ve never known a world with out it, and why not take that love and do it all the time? So, that’s what I’ve been doing since I could pick up a crayon.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I moved around a lot as a kid.. Always noticing faces in a crowded market or airport – any setting where I could feel invisible but still create stories of the lives around me. Their movements: a head tilt, how hands move away from their bodies and back again. Stories I could make up about them so I didn’t have to pay much attention to my own. Drawing was a way I could be around people without the complexity of an interaction. I drew them and, as a result, got to know them, sometimes even better than I knew myself.

I’ve gone back and forth using different materials: oils, clay, even digital, but drawing is always what I come back to. A single purple crayon was my choice as a kid. No other colors necessary, I just needed to get the jumble of my mind onto paper. Since then I’ve found color, but it’s muted, with only bursts here and there. I think the small blasts of color convey what I need to at the time, contrasting against the smut of the world. There will always be a little darkness underneath, I think, so I’ll have a place to hide.

Right now, I’m working hard on a solo show that highlights surfing in the low country. I want to show the movements of a surfer in the water, and the dance that takes place on a wave. That will take place at Hed High Media’s studio January 8th, in downtown Charleston.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
What a fun question! For downtown Charleston, I’d take them to Estadio, the dopest little tapas place. Also, 167 Raw, Edmunds Oast, and Coterie for more good food times. Just biking around this city is a good time, eating and drinking your way around until you can’t bike anymore. Then it’d be a lot of time out on Folly. Hopefully the waves are descent, and a nice little surf session could happen. Biking around the island, to some of the bars. Chico Feo and Jack of Cups would be the places most visited out there. Kayaking through the inlets is another good time.

Mostly eating, drinking and being on the water.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Man, that’s a tough one! I have so many people in my life to thank and give mad shout outs too. Of course there are people in my family that I could not say thank you to enough. Then there’s my husband, Grant, who has supported my chosen path as an artist from day one in our relationship. But there’s also this amazing Charleston community of artists that lift each other up, ask tough questions with, and try to help each other grow in our own practice and bring more artists together.

Website: tfaulknerart.com

Instagram: @t.faulkner_art

Image Credits
The one photo of me on the beach is by Elizabeth Ervin, a photographer and friend in Charleston, SC.

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutAtlanta is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.