Katherine Taylor

A central motif in Taylor’s work is the landscape—shaped by both human intervention and natural forces. Her paintings explore the inevitability of change, whether sudden or imperceptibly slow, through a lens that is both poetic and precise. A master of nuance, Taylor creates mysterious, frequently ominous, and strangely beautiful compositions in her signature, subtly complex palette of grays, greens. Each work is as technically accomplished as it is emotionally resonant.

Past series have evoked the dystopian shadows of the urban landscape, the devastation left by hurricanes and floods, the distant and deceptively alluring lights reflected on the bay of her hometown of Biloxi in the exhibition Boomtown, blurred vistas glimpsed through car windows, and melancholy swimming pools filled with runoff and rainwater.

In Terrarium, Taylor turns her gaze to cultivated spaces—landscapes shaped by human intention. The presence of man is revealed only through his impact: the hand of the gardener. These are parks, gardens, and pockets of green created for solace and pleasure, where nature is tended, contained, and held momentarily still. With softly luminous tones and atmospheric depth, Taylor blends botanical detail with painterly abstraction, evoking a sense of quiet suspension. Her compositions reflect segments of aerial perspective with no horizon—images that pause and reflect movement, where water, ground, and sky merge in puzzling shallow depths.

Echoing the tradition of 18th-century landscape painting, Taylor reimagines the garden as both a refuge and a reflection. These paintings, in her words, are “portraits of nature suspended in the colors of atmosphere”—fragments of authentic life preserved within the fragile boundaries of human care.

Katherine Taylor was born in Biloxi, MS. Three times featured in New American Paintings, her works are the topic for review in numerous books, catalogs and publications including Art Papers, The Boston Globe and recently published Painted Landscapes: Contemporary Views. Taylor's work has been exhibited in the Quebec City Biennale; Diverseworks, Houston TX; The Albany Museum of Art, Albany, GA; Marietta Cobb Museum of Art; and in Atlanta, at Atlanta Contemporary Art Center; the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia and the High Museum of Art. Taylor is a Working Artist Project fellow with  the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia. She  received a  Vermont Studio Fellowship in 2013, and a VSC Zeta Orionis Fellowship in 2014.  Taylor lives and works in Atlanta, GA.