Meet Taylor Wald

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Taylor Wald a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Taylor, looking forward to learning from your journey. You’ve got an amazing story and before we dive into that, let’s start with an important building block. Where do you get your work ethic from?

I draw inspiration from the labor of my family. From the detailed quilts and paintings made by my grandmothers, to my father’s relentless career, so many of the people who shaped me were incredibly dedicated to their own work. I follow their path like footprints in deep snow, showing up to my art practice every day not only to honor the work of my family, but to care for my own passions too. My work ethic is rooted in knowing that I have been given the privilege to be able to create.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a visual artist from Saint Cloud, Minnesota, currently based in Minneapolis. My work investigates the life, labor, and sacrifices intertwined in generationally patterned behaviors in family. I have always been surrounded by addictive cycles like familial alcoholism, questioning their power, reach, and how to navigate living when partially controlled by their genetic and social grips. Yet these cyclical struggles sharply contrast with the obsessive beauty of my family and area. Addictive replacements come in the form of obsessive craft skill, hobby work, domestic care, career work, and other dissociations of varying intensity. The good and the bad of these behavioral patterns have been passed down to me from generations of my family’s crafters, laborers, and lovers across time.

I paint scenes of familiar consuming behaviors through imagery of lived-in, repetitive home spaces and interventions of patterned objects that obscure and break the canvas surface. I’m interested in how the emotional reverberations of our actions can be seen and felt in spaces long after we’re gone, and how that mirrors the remnants of ourselves and our choices we leave within others. Floorboards, couch cushions, driveways, dresser drawers, and curtain folds become physical embodiments of behavioral imprints. The scenes from just after we have left the room are powerful vestiges questioning what we shed for others to carry. I create art to question and celebrate the things we struggle to control, finding healing in translating complex emotional remnants from memory into multidimensional painted scenes.

I will be graduating with my Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Minnesota in 2026. My work has been featured in exhibitions including those at Rosalux Gallery, Schmidt Landmark Gallery, Vera W. Russell Gallery, Quarter Gallery, and Fresh Eye Gallery. I was a 2023 Matchmaking Artist at Art In Motion and hold a People’s Choice Award from the Paramount Center for the Arts. My work has been funded by scholarships from organizations such as the Central Minnesota Arts Board and the University of Minnesota. I am looking forward to my inaugural solo exhibition, which is set for March 2026 at Schmidt Landmark Gallery.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Striving for an empathetic understanding of myself, the community in which I live, and the greater world has always pushed my art practice and personal growth. The easiest way I’ve improved these skills for myself has been by talking to people and keeping up with the news. I’ve also lately begun more in-depth research into topics surrounding addictions, mental health, and the political structures that can inform these two things, via the internet and the local library!

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

My best friend and partner, Sam, has been an essential supporter. He has not only been the one behind the scenes of my practice, helping me carry heavy artworks, sitting at my craft fair booths, and double-checking all my applications, but he’s also helped me grow exponentially. Sam is a realistic, level-headed, and intelligent person who helps to ground me and push me to be better. My artist friends have also been huge in breaking me out of my shell, which is something I’ve always struggled with. I wouldn’t be where I am today without my amazing support system.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Taylor Wald

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