Laura Taylor, MA

Artist Statement

The gift of studying at The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts has allowed me to explore deeply the fundamental practical and philosophical principles of the traditional arts and crafts. It has also given me the opportunity to contemplate my own spiritual beliefs and how they inform me as an artist, as well as exploring other sacred traditions and the interchange between them.

The practice of sacred geometry has been a revelation, tying together traditional creative practice, spirituality, and humanity as a harmonic principle.

My second-year work is centred on Sacred Nature. Whilst the world battles with environmental imbalance and exploitation, as a lifelong gardener and environmentalist, I firmly believe that rather than simply making practical changes to how we treat our world, we must again imbue it with veneration and reverence.

My main piece of work is an ‘icon’, a painting inspired by medieval stained glass and herbals, which aims to be a communion between the visible and the invisible. Designed around Creation and the Garden of Eden, it is rich in many-layered symbolism and can be read on different levels. Using egg tempera I have painted and gilded on a handmade gesso board, combining earth materials and pigments. This same inspiration has informed the creation of other related artworks such as ceramic plates.

I am currently doing extensive analysis of the geometrical structure of wild British flowers, seeking to combine these principles with the wider geometry of the cosmos.

I hope that through my work I can awaken a desire to re-ensoul Nature and encourage people to look with reverence at the astonishing original Divine Creation.