Join Resonator as we welcome local emerging artist Gavin Taylor (The Muffled Siren) for his first ever Second Friday solo exhibition.
“The Walls Can Speak, and this is what they have to say.” -The Muffled Siren
Wall Scabs is a collection of works created by The Muffled Siren while writing his rock musical, The Nursing Home Milkshake. Both the musical and the paintings explore the idea of narrative conveyed through interiors. The musical is narrated by a character named Carambola Crest, who is the human embodiment of the nursing home. To tap into the psyche of such an unconventional character, The Muffled Siren began creating pieces that resembled fragments of walls.
The catalyst for this collection started with a piece titled Prison Scab. This piece was created during the early writing process of the musical when The Muffled Siren was still in secondary school. Here The Muffled Siren recounts the creation of this piece: “I took a tile from the school’s supply closet and began attaching various artifacts to its surface: a piece of wire fence, plaster cloth, and half of a pair of rusted scissors which resembled a shank. I then extemporaneously wrote the word "Igloo" in charcoal on the attached plaster cloth. The result evoked sensibilities reminiscent of the primitive work of Jean Dubuffet.”
Like Dubuffet, The Muffled Siren aims to provoke a primitive and visceral reaction within the viewer. After the creation of “Prison Scab,” He set out to create multiple pieces based on different interiors. Each piece insinuates complete narratives provided by the titled setting and placement of the wall wounds. The mold, burns, holes, and “scabs” add a haunting history to each piece. It is up to the interpreter to create backstories for each interior by reflecting on their own experiences. The Muffled Siren hopes that his Wall Scabs can evoke a state of regression that allows each spectator to travel internally.
About The Muffled Siren:
The Muffled Siren is the stage name of rock 'n' roll musician, performer, songwriter, and visual artist, Gavin Taylor. His shows are high-energy theatrical spectacles with glam rock sensibilities. The Muffled Siren began painting during a four-year period of depersonalization. This strange period of time was a direct result of the back-to-back deaths of his beloved aunt and muse of a grandmother. He set out to write a rock 'n' roll fantasia about what could've been, the outcome was a rock musical entitled The Nursing Home Milkshake. During its conception, Taylor painted as a way to escape writer's block. After the completion of the initial writing for The Nursing Home Milkshake, Taylor's depersonalization quickly subsided. He hopes to bring the same sort of closure and comfort that his work gave him to the masses.
The opening reception will be Friday, June 13 from 6:00 to 9:00 and the exhibition will stay up until Thursday, June 26.