{"id":41999,"date":"2020-12-21T20:43:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-22T04:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hollandreno.org\/?p=41999"},"modified":"2021-03-04T16:21:22","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T00:21:22","slug":"raw-feelings-create-pretty-words-taylor-diem-interviewed-by-kayla-johnson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hollandreno.org\/2020\/12\/raw-feelings-create-pretty-words-taylor-diem-interviewed-by-kayla-johnson\/","title":{"rendered":"Raw Feelings Create Pretty Words: Taylor Diem Interviewed by Kayla Johnson"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Installation view of Tayler Diem, “Raw Feelings Create Pretty Words”, HP Satellite Gallery, 2020 <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Kayla Johnson <\/strong>

I love the idea of re-contextualizing other people\u2019s images or artwork because it challenges notions of what art can be, as seen by artists such as Andy Warhol and Sherry Levine. What types of images do you look for and where?

Taylor Diem<\/strong>

I would say I\u2019m drawn towards history and not necessarily contemporary culture or images. I really like to push the envelope as far as Playboys go, I don\u2019t know why that\u2019s become a crazy thing that\u2019s so censored. I really like to do things that people may not like.

KJ<\/strong>

So where do you look for images?

TD<\/strong>

Always thrift, like Savers and Goodwill. I have never gone to a store and bought a brand new full-priced book, item, or anything. That\u2019s actually how it started too, I was in a Goodwill years ago in Michigan, and I found a Times magazine. It was a \u201c100 years of Time Magazine Covers\u201d and I thought it was the coolest thing. That was the first time I ever sat down and collaged something.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Taylor Diem, Constantly Calling<\/em>, 2020<\/strong>,
Graphic Design Magazine Photo 1999, cardboard, epoxy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/strong>
KJ<\/strong>

Do you remember how old you were?

TD<\/strong>

I started going to thrift stores when my sister started driving, so I was probably 14 or 15 years old. Since my sister would drive us and you had to be 16 at the time. That was our thing, we would always go after school.

KJ<\/strong>

And was this in Detroit or Flint?

TD<\/strong>

Nope, this was still Flint, well Flushing, the small town we were in. But, the Goodwills we would go to are in Flint, Clio, and random other small-towns.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Taylor Diem, The Devilish Grin<\/em>, 2020, <\/strong>
Playboy Magazine 1959, illustration by Art Krsuz, cardboard, epoxy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KJ<\/strong>

And did you buy it with the intention of incorporating it into your own artwork, or did you buy it just because you thought it was cool?
<\/strong>
TD<\/strong>

No, I saw the book and saw something cooler that could be done. I love books but at the time obviously, I didn\u2019t have a coffee table. I mean, I was 14 years old haha. I\u2019m really into coffee table books, and I think they\u2019re cool, but they don\u2019t get looked through enough. And as far as Playboys go I had a whole box. I forgot who gave it to me, one of my friends in Detroit. We were all messing around in the lofts one night and she gave me a whole box of old Playboys. They sat in my room forever, so I was like, \u201cWhy not use them?\u201d. It\u2019s just cooler to be able to expand what\u2019s inside the book that nobody will ever go look at. I like to blend from multiple sources. It doesn\u2019t always have to be from the same magazine, and I\u2019ve found it easier to work from multiple sources and put together something from different time periods, etc.
<\/strong>
KJ<\/strong>

I understand this series, Raw Feelings Create Pretty Words, is the first time you\u2019ve included your own writing and poetry into your works. What was the hesitation in doing so, and would you do it again in the future?

TD<\/strong>

Yeah, I think I would. There was definitely a lot of hesitation. I just kept on panicking because I\u2019ve only been in pop-ups before, I never produced work for a gallery setting. So, I kept questioning everything, \u201clike are you sure you want to go this route for the world to see?\u201d And I wanted it to be something I was going to be proud of. Working on the text was the easiest and coolest route. It really forced me to do something that I didn\u2019t want to. But then, once I got everything up I got such good feedback, and it feels so good to know that other people can relate to my artwork.

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Taylor Diem, Just Another Story<\/em>, 2020<\/strong>
Words written in September 2010, Playboy Magazine cardboard, epoxy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n


KJ<\/strong>

I think that\u2019s what\u2019s so compelling, is the combined image and text. I feel like it forces people to take a longer time to look at your works and actually read.
<\/strong>
TD<\/strong>

Yes! There are certain ones too, like the one where all the ladies have the man pinned down in the Playboy magazine. That\u2019s a favorite because that was one of the first poems I\u2019ve ever shared, referencing a pivotal moment in my life. I went through a terrible situation, dude took advantage of me, it was a whole thing. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and I just started writing that poem, and the weight that was lifted off my shoulders once I got the words out was such a relief because I could never talk about it. I didn\u2019t know how to talk about it, I didn\u2019t tell my mom for two years, and it was something I dealt with and lived with for a moment. Incorporating that poem with that image meant so much to me, it\u2019s such a powerful combination between text and image.

KJ<\/strong>

Because in the poem you\u2019re saying \u201cno\u201d and the person\u2019s not listening so you feel paralyzed?

TD<\/strong>

Yeah so instead the image is a bunch of women being like, \u201cNo, we\u2019re gonna tie you down\u201d haha. So that was my favorite. I think a couple of them really put into perspective how cool it was to see an image fit so well into my writing, and the fact that I was finding them in old magazines made it more special.

KJ<\/strong>

So with that work, you already had the poem and you found an image that aligned. Do you always work in that manner? Or do you find an image and then write something that aligns with that?

TD<\/strong>

No, I made up probably five to seven of them brand new. I just saw an image, thought of a couple of words that could relate, and I went back and wrote a poem for it. It could really go either way. Just the other day I directed a music video for a friend that asked me to help, and I knew instantly the exact location and everything. I don\u2019t have an imagination, but I can envision things as far as how it could work. Anyways, poetry comes very easy to me. It\u2019s how I write, it\u2019s easy for me to express myself. They go hand-in-hand, and neither one really has to come first and I could do it either way. What was the most mind-blowing was being able to find pieces to already match the written ones, and if I didn\u2019t I just drew something so it worked.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Taylor Diem, Confused News<\/em>, 2020<\/strong>
Words written in November 2020, Dazed Magainze 2020, shattered iPhone, photo by Rico Anthony (IG @RicoAnthony), galvanized wire,  cardboard, epoxy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

KJ<\/strong>

Did you have to find new magazines for this show, or did you just use images you already had?

TY<\/strong>

No, a lot of it I already had. The only new magazine that is from 2020 is a part of the long extended ones, the big two-piece (ie Confused News). Everything else is collected over years or something I got from Savers.

KJ<\/strong>

Many of your poems in this series reflect personal narratives. Do you feel like incorporating hardships and realizations from your personal life helps you process and move on from negative experiences, kind of like a form of therapy and personal growth?

TD<\/strong>

More than anything. As I just told you a minute ago, I will never forget getting that poem out on paper. I hold onto emotions, I hold onto things, so until I can let go of them I can physically feel the weight. Once I let go I feel lighter, my chest feels like I can breathe again. I don\u2019t deal with things very well, I cope in terrible ways, so for me, I found to just sit down and write, it doesn’t even have to be in poem form. To get how I\u2019m feeling out on paper is the most therapeutic thing for me. I actually started doing it more when I was in college studying psychology. We did a study on different ways that people can cope and writing is an example of a healthy tool to process emotions. Mrs. Kabeen, that was my professor (shout out to her) said, \u201cJust have a journal that you write all your feelings in\u201d, and that was very therapeutic and helpful. I tell people all the time when they\u2019re stressed just to write it out. You don\u2019t have to tell anybody; it can be a secret and you can choose not to tell anyone. Normally, if I\u2019m writing or doing something that I know someone is going to see, I\u2019ll redo it a million times. My journals are the rawest part of me, they are scary but also pretty.
______________________________________________________________________________
Taylor Diem is a mixed media artist who was born near Flint, Michigan but currently works and lives in Reno, Nevada. She primarily works with collage, designing compositions that utilize imagery from vintage magazines of the 20th century, many of which are from Playboys. Diem\u2019s artistic practice is expressive of personal anecdotes, exploring relatable elements of lived experiences, and implications of history in the contemporary era. Contact & commissions: DiemTaylor7@gmail.com<\/a>

Kayla A. Johnson is a 2020 graduate of UNR who studied art history and business administration. She founded UNR’s first Art History Club, served as a curatorial assistant at the Lilley Museum, and worked in art galleries in Reno and New York. She now works in the Nevada Museum of Art’s Visitor Services Department and is a Holland Project Gallery Committee member.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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