Artist Statement:
My current body of work uses water as a metaphor to illustrate the ever-present alchemy of our existence. Water is the essence of life. When I dive into any body of water I immediately have an intense and profound sense of joy and wonder. In its duality, water is extremely powerful - crashing and yet, also, calming; we cannot live without it. The work explores the different states of being within water. It touches on how we flow through our lives striving for a state of grace and beauty. Like our blue planet, our bodies are 70% water, yet we still have a need to ground ourselves; the paradox of standing still while always flowing. In many ways we are between states, part spirit and part matter, part liquid and part solid. I sought to use the lyrical dance of light, space and colour to explore and manifest these ideas in glass and photography.
Biography:
California born, Canadian based artist, Taliaferro Jones holds a BA and BFA from Tufts University and the Museum School, Boston, followed by post graduate work at Sheridan College, where she also taught. She received her masters in Museum Studies from Johns Hopkins University, while consulting on a new Museum for contemporary art in Spain . She exhibits internationally, including prestigious biennale’s in Spain, the Netherlands and South Korea. She has done large-scale commissions in London, California, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Her work is included in the Canadiana Fund collection at Rideau Hall in Canada, El Museo de Vidrio in Spain, The Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in Waterloo, Ontario, and Trent University in Peterborough Ontario. She has exhibited in the USA at both the Oakland Museum of Art (2012) and the Tacoma Museum of Glass, The Daily World (2017), The New Bedford Art Museum (2023). Reviewed in numerous articles including https://now.tufts.edu/2022/11/14/glass-imagined-through-artists-eye and Glass Art. She has been featured by Bravo and TVO as well as in the following books: Playing With Fire: Artists of the California Studio Glass Movement, International Glass Art, The Contemporary Glass Art of the World, Craft of Northern California and Golf 365 Days. Curatorially community minded, she ran The Toronto Outdoor Art Fair, founded Cadence Collective and sat on the board of Craft Ontario, chairing between 2016-2018.
