Ross Taylor
21 5/8 x 17 3/4 in.
The drawing titled Thirteen hollow ones features an astronomer, looming over the viewer from above. A night sky stars as the backdrop, the astronomer’s gaze is staring right into the viewer’s eyes, as if he was concerned about your focus on the stars. This is a reference to the artist’s everyday life; Taylor often walks by a cemetery where famous astronomers are buried.
Though connected to the other "associates," this character inhabits a space of idiosyncratic loneliness, existing on a different plane of reality. This character’s need to hide behind prosthetics, like the double eyebrows, a baroque style wig, and a fake nose, mirrors the suburban middle-class tendency to seek refuge from mundane life in external embellishments. The prosthetics act as a tool to avoid the self, which shows Taylor’s reflection on the disconnect between personal identity and societal expectations.