Taylor Robers | College of Biological Sciences

Taylor Robers

Taylor Robers (Row-bear) (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist with roots in drawing, painting, sculpture, land art, zines, photography, and sound. She seeks to restore our relationships with forests by bringing our attention to the organisms and relationships that support these ecosystems. Her work has been shown at the Minneapolis Institute for Art, Gamut Gallery, Praxis Gallery, and CEPA in Buffalo, NY. Robers was raised between farmland, prairies, and forests of Minnesota, and wetlands and forests of Northern Wisconsin. She received her BFA from the University of Minnesota and MFA from SUNY University at Buffalo.

Taylor Robers is deeply interested in the connections between humans, ecosystems, science, organisms and more. During her residency, Taylor plans to connect with site scientists and staff, keep an ink and watercolor observation journal, explore Cedar Creek at night, and use these and other experiences to create a Natural Deinstallation sculpture. She explains more about the idea:

After spending time in these places, absorbing information from humans and more-than-humans, I would like to create a site specific wood carving sculpture at Cedar Creek. The wood will be sourced from a locally felled tree and the sculpture will be left untreated with the intention of encouraging decay to happen. The form of the sculpture will be an organic abstraction responding to my findings, the site, and the tree itself. This sculpture will be a collaboration with the forest as it becomes a home to many and highlights the process of decay and growth on the forest floor through the seasons. Before I carve, I often imagine a small forest being looking for shelter and I carve texture, holes, and overhangs.

I plan to document the process of decay, the new organisms moving in, and the new growth, through a photo series. You can see here how I document the changes in my sculpture, Willow Home. The series shows the beauty of decay and the diversity of life that it brings. I will do this over at least four seasons to document the phenology and life present at different points.

You can follow Taylor's work on her website (https://taylorrobersart.com/) and blog (https://taylorrobers.substack.com/), as well as here on this page.