ARTIST’S STATEMENT

My childhood home was built roughly a century before my family moved into it, and stands in a now-impoverished town in Louisiana. As the structure of our household degraded and became more turbulent, so did the dwelling. Broken windows, leaking and collapsing sections of the roof, and plants invading cracks in the architecture became common. They reflected a history of inherited and perpetuated abuse in the home. While the memories of the space and its condition are clear to me, many of the experiences within it are incomplete. 

My research focuses on this predicament and the feelings of shame, inadequacy, and frustration associated with recalling the past. It does so through installations comprising a family of familiar yet aged objects. Through material explorations involving cremation, rusting, and impermanent installations, an opportunity to nurture objects through process arts and conservatorship occurs. By populating a near facsimile of a space–which exists only in memories—with these items indicative of perpetuated grief and neglect, the work attempts to recall moments of tenderness buried within a mass of forgotten memories.

BIO

Jacob Taylor Gibson is an interdisciplinary artist based in the Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) area. Originally from Lafayette, Louisiana where he earned a BFA in Printmaking from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Jacob recently completed a MFA in Studio Art with a concentration in printmaking from the University of North Texas. Primarily, his work is created through printmaking, ceramic sculpture, sound art, and installation. Currently, Jacob serves as the Programs Manager at The Cedars Union, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to providing facilities and resources to artists in the DFW area.

Jacob has presented his research through artists lectures, workshops, and public demonstrations/performances at various institutions and conferences such as the University of Alabama Birmingham, University of Texas at Tyler, and the Southern Graphics Council International annual conference. Jacob has exhibited his work nationally at Box13 Art Space, Cleveland Institute of Art, 500X, Manifest Gallery, as well as internationally in Italy and Australia. His work has been published in magazines such as Artists Talk Magazine, Envision Arts Magazine, and The Hand Magazine and is held in many permanent collections including The Meadows Museum, The Hilliard Art Museum, The Bradbury Art Museum, and The Zuckerman Museum of Art.

Photo credit: Imani Black