Featured Artist 01 - Jan 2021 - LZR CHF by Taylor Shaw

Limited Edition 2x3 Loyalty Patch featuring artwork by Taylor Shaw

IG: @lazerchef

Web: www.taytay.studio

ARTIST STATEMENT

Garbled Jimmy Buffet’s greatest hits on repeat, a view of the gasoline slicked harbor, screeching seagulls, swarms of families feasting on “fresh” seafood, and palmetto bugs twice the size of a normal cockroach flying at your face. I was just 15 and trying to make enough money to buy my first vehicle, a 1979 Ford Bronco, by bussing tables at a large tourist trap restaurant. It was covered by an enormous tiki thatched roof and the cocaine fueled owner lived in one of the yachts that was moored to the dock behind the establishment.

This setting is how I, and many of the locals I grew up with, experienced the Redneck Riviera. The Emerald Coast boasts snow white beaches and crystal blue water, but the advertisement pamphlets leave out all the tidbits of local authenticity: the trailer parks, the inevitable seasonal hustle, the stark winter-time boredom, and the abandoned condos. What vacationers get is their dream vacation. They also get their trinkets and souvenirs by which to remember these times.

Artists are forever influenced by their surroundings and upbringing. The Florida coast, where I spent my youth, has done the same for me. The colors, imagery, seafood, and tourist-based economy still influence my artwork. I seek to bring the coastal kitsch to contemporary discussion through its placement into a high art context. There is a resurgence in seeking the “authentic” when travelling. I aim to provide a more local, authentic vision of what living in these towns is like. Using the template of the souvenir, I seek to challenge value systems placed upon the tacky nostalgic objects we find on our vacations and how they are situated in contemporary art.

My work varies from large sculptural mini putt landscapes to travel sized playable mini putt courses that have traveled in a backpack between New York City, Los Angeles, and New Orleans. My murals and airbrush tees rely heavily on coastal kitsch icons such as the postcard, airbrush tee shirts, roadside attractions, and magnets touting classic Floridian imagery such as flamingos, sunsets, dolphins, and palm trees. I use a combination of reclaimed wood, fabric, and spray paints. These pieces lean into the bright color choices found in coastal tourist havens. Interactivity is a large part of my art. By creating photo booth roadside attractions and making mini putt playable in a gallery setting I hope to physically engage viewers with my art.

BIO

I have cut my teeth in the restaurant industry since I was 15. I’ve worked every position in restaurants. Starting as dishwasher, busboy, waiter, host, line cook, all the way to opening my own food truck and restaurant and even being chosen as the ESPN GameDay Chef when that crew visited Athens. My life has always revolved and relied on food and art and I don’t separate the two. They are both creative outlets and sources of inspiration.

I have given the restaurant life a backseat after completing my MFA at UGA and continue to pursue my passion as an educator. I’m currently teaching at Valdosta State University. The food life and the art life intertwine themselves in my creative fabric and come out in a variety of ways: YouTube cooking tutorials, hot sauce lines, screen printing my own apparel, teaching, murals, airbrushing, building and restoring furniture, and anything that makes me feel as if I have brought something new into this world. LazerChef is my creative persona and alias but it is also just who I am.

2x3 Loyalty Patch with hook backing attaches to the following accessories (SOLD SEPARATELY):

• 2x3 loop panels on hats (front patch)
• Keychain wallets
  
• Bag tags
• Patch display panel
• Sticker converter

Shipping currently available within the US only