Inevitable

Artist Statement by Pam Marlene Taylor

The first three works created for this new series were responses to my previous series “Tubes” (exhibited in Mother or (K)not), representing the treatment denials I received for surgical intervention from severe menstrual symptoms and birth control side effects due to doctors believing I would change my mind about wanting to remain child-free. In the year following my eventual hysterectomy, I created this triptych to represent my unregretted laparoscopic scars. Similarly, the entire series, Inevitable, is a response to these halls I used to walk daily as the previous museum manager of this space. After facing denials for disability accommodation requests, I had to resign my position at the height of the pre-vaccine pandemic. Now, under new management, my own work hangs on the walls I once cared for.

Curatorial Statement by Anna McKeown

Local artist Pam Marlene Taylor creates works which conceptualize the unfortunately effective way that the inevitability of death gives meaning to life. Both playful and melancholy, Taylor balances the comforts and tragedies of the human experience in her woven fiber pieces. Intense pops of color are constrained by dark boxes, and the fibers she weaves with seem to burst from the loom, unable to be contained. Taylor draws from personal experiences when creating her work, often centered around themes of chronic illness, death, healthcare inequality, and finding perspective in life's darkest moments