Spotlight Artist

Taylor Chapin

MFA Annual
Artist profile photo
Featured in New American Paintings

Artist Statement


My paintings examine consumerism and advertising to suggest an inherent comedy—and absurdity—of daily life. My work questions our mindless drive toward industrialized American consumerism, the contents of which fill and fetishize our interior spaces.

I deliberately obscure forms by creating multi-layered, illusory facades. Human bodies and consumer goods are ensconced in pattern and color, emphasizing their inherent banality while simultaneously enshrining and transforming their visual structures of identification as a way of critiquing the perception of value. Through the lack of a reveal, it is left indiscernible which cloaked forms contain commercial or societal value, challenging our perceptions of what is real and unreal, valuable and valueless.

I am drawn to the allure of what lies underneath. I drape, wrap, and cover with various fabrics to transform once recognizable forms into abstract shapes, semi-composed inklings of what lies below. It is this illusory quality of implied volume and depth that bemuses and betrays the two dimensional space of the stretched canvas, allowing the painted surface to become an additional layer of the facade.

Discover more artists from the MFA Annual

THE MAGAZINE

Explore our magazine to discover exceptional artists

Open magazine with text, modern illustrations, and a list of artists on a pink background.
View issues

Call for Artists

Submit your work for consideration

New American Paintings is a juried exhibition-in-print and digital, presenting the work of 40 emerging artists in each issue.

View competitions

Your gateway to new art

Discover tomorrow's art stars, today

Two books on a wooden table with a modern decorative sculpture in the background.

PRINT + EARLY ACCESS DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$179/YEAR

DIGITAL SUBSCRIPTION

$99/YEAR OR $10/MONTH

Each issue of New American Paintings features forty artists selected through our juried competitions—presented in a beautifully curated, full-color publication. Subscribers receive six issues per year, plus exclusive online access to current and past editions. Are you a collector? Consider our premium subscription and receive our museum-quality printed publication + access to each new digital issue two weeks before its general release.