Today we’d like to introduce you to Sal Taylor Kydd.
Sal, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
In my early thirties my father passed away, my children were young and I was working a fairly intense job that no longer inspired me. His death made me evaluate my life and the path I was taking and I realized I wanted to make a change, So I decided to leave my company to spend more time with my children. At the same time, I started to focus more on my photography.
Over time my interest in photography grew, but I knew that I didn’t want it just to be a hobby. I had stories I wanted to tell and ideas I wanted to explore, so with that in mind I embarked upon the MFA program at Maine Media Workshops & College. It was my first step in really looking into what I wanted to say with my work and how I wanted to say it. The best thing about that program was that it opened me up to all sorts of new techniques and media, such as alternative processes and book arts that I might never would have got to develop on my own.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
I work primarily in photography, and I also write and make books. Whatever medium I am working in, the work always resonates around the same themes – home and family in conversation with the natural world. I’m interested in how these things can feel both fragile and have strength at the same time. The moments we experience in life are fleeting and transitory but we are forever trying to hold on to them and make them last – which is essentially what I do with my work too. When I make a print it is a contact print using platinum and palladium, so each one is hand-made and unique.
Artists face many challenges, but what do you feel is the most pressing among them?
It is very hard to make any kind of living through selling your work alone. I am finding that the best way to do this is to put together a fabric of skills – art-making – teaching – selling books that combined can do this. Another challenge for me and I think for many artists, is examining how my work is relevant in today’s political climate. How does this work matter and how am I contributing to some of the issues of the day with the work? Much of what I do does touch on these issues, particularly regarding the role of women and motherhood and the fragility of the natural world.
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
I show my work as much as I can and this winter will be part of the biennial at CMCA in Rockland, Maine, together with painter Anneli Skaar. In January I will be having a show at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester MA.
You can find my work on my website www.saltaylorkydd.com and also on Instagram under @sal.taylorkydd.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.saltaylorkydd.com
- Email: sal@saltaylorkydd.com
- Instagram: sal.taylorkydd
- Facebook: facebook.com/saltaylorkyddphotography/
Image Credit:
Sal Taylor Kydd
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