TANNER JENSEN, RON TOAHANI JACKSON, & KATHY TAYLOR
July 8 – September 2, 2023
Opening Reception: July 8
- Members’ Preview: 5-6 pm
- Artist Gallery Talks: 6 pm
- Public Reception: 6-8 pm
Closing Reception: September 2, 6-8 pm
EQUUS: The Horse Rendered in Contemporary Art aims to transcend conventions of Western American art, placing the viewer in a liminal space to contemplate the threshold between traditional depictions and contemporary perspectives. Equus (Latin term for horse) brings together the creative work of three accomplished artists—Tanner Jensen, Ron Toahani Jackson, and Kathy Taylor—who share a kinship of mutual respect with, and admiration for, the horse: free and unbridled in spirit and form.
Tanner Jensen (Greenville, North Carolina). Jensen has been enthralled with horses since she was a child; since then, they have served as a muse, the source of inspiration for her creative practice. “It’s a mystery to me why the horse lends itself to my search for understanding, but it does. Through these animals, I have learned to be a much better human being. They’ve taught me patience, given me lessons about life and death, lead me through grief, and are a constant reminder to stay present and to delight in this miracle of a world” (tannerjensenfineart.com). Before moving to North Carolina, Jensen was a resident of Flagstaff intermittently since 1976.
Ron Toahani Jackson (Tségháhoodzání or Window Rock, Navajo Nation, Arizona). Toahani is an artist, photographer and animal rights activist working to preserve the last free wild roaming horses on his ancestral lands. The artist describes the intimate experiences he has with the wild horses that inspire his work: “When you sit in the landscape with the horses, they will come up and surround you. They get close, just a few feet from you. They are spiritual; it is a spiritual experience.” Toahani’s monotypes are one-of-a-kind ink or painted images, created on a substrate and transferred to a paper surface, oftentimes embellished with additional pencil marks or textures. Toahani’s videography of wild horses is displayed on the exterior of Coconino Center for the Arts during evening viewing events.
Kathy Taylor (Phoenix, Arizona). Taylor reflects on the development of the horse as a reoccurring motif and as part of her intuitive approach to mixed-media painting and sculpture: “When the first horse emerged in one of my paintings, it was no surprise to find out that these beautiful symbols of strength, freedom, and power were just what I needed at the time. Horse had chosen me! While I paint, the horses meet me in that place where the invisible world meets visible reality bringing with them messages of hope and healing” (Voyage Phoenix, October 18, 2018). Taylor attributes her abstract artistic influences on her formative years living in Southern California in the 1960s.