Today we’d like to introduce you to Alyssa Taylor Wendt.
Hi Alyssa Taylor, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a working artist, filmmaker and curator who is based in Austin, Texas and Detroit, Michigan. Originally from New York City, I grew up in the punk scene in Phoenix and lived in San Francisco for many years. After running my own vintage clothes business, touring as a musician and working on cult films, I moved back to New York to earn my MFA from Bard College. Looking for an affordable way to earn a living creatively, I relocated to Austin and discovered the support of the expansive art community here and never left.
My work is a conceptual project-based practice which uses video, photography, sculpture, performance, sound and installation. I curate shows in order to support all the magnificent artists that I know and to foster dialogue about conceptual ideas and work. I am currently serving on several art boards, part of the ICOSA collective and earning my second master’s degree in Museum Studies for Harvard. In the near future, I will be starting a museum of cultural artifacts in Detroit.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The only way to achieve great things is to take great risks. I have never chosen an easy, predictable or safe path and the results of these choices have created a life full of challenges, struggles and huge rewards. Living outside of the heteronormative prescribed guidelines has always been where I naturally gravitated to. I grew up with an unusual childhood and was fueled as a young person by the anger of injustice and by feminism. I learned to shape that anger and use the power of my personality and spirit to create opportunities, build projects, focus on achievements and live an unconventional life of adventure and purpose. I naturally have a strong penchant for mysticism and am what some may call a ‘sensitive.’ These energies, my given and chosen families, my inner alpha and my ambition have kept me thinking towards the future even when the present seemed full of obstacles. Being an artist is an honor and a privilege and I plan to continue to fight the good fight, creating inspiration, promoting others and building new ways to find solutions in a world that is at times dark and unforgiving.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My work generally investigates ideas about hidden layers of history, ruins, animism, inherited memory, healing, mysticism and the function of architecture, using cinematic abstracts which invite the viewers to complete the works with their own points of reference. The projects tend to be based around a single screen or multichannel video and highlighted by staged production stills, often presented as large mural photographs. I also show sculpture to augment the work in various materials like silicone, found objects, bronze, ceramic, latex, ribbon and mobiles. People often say that my work is dark, but I like to say that I illuminate the beauty of our shadow sides and instigate complicated explorations of universal questions. There is an esoteric, mystical side to my signature pieces which evolve naturally, building on past projects. I am most proud of my multichannel film H A I N T, which took six years to complete and was filmed in Detroit, Texas and Croatia. The video was the Official Winner of the Istanbul International Experimental Film Festival in 2019. Another favorite project was an exhibition I curated in 2017 with Sean Gaulager of Co-Lab Projects called ‘Good Mourning Tis of Thee’ at their temporary 7000 foot DEMO gallery space in downtown Austin.
The show explored ideas of death and transformation and we self-funded the project, using 63 artists and performers which had a hugely positive response. Lastly, I am thrilled to be undertaking my biggest project yet, a Museum for Cultural Artifacts in Detroit. This nonprofit small museum will celebrate the beauty and value of marginalized cultures through an esoteric collection, educational outreach, a research library and community events. Projected opening date will be in 2023. I currently have a two-woman show up called VESSEL at the ICOSA Gallery in the Canopy arts complex with Brooke Gassiot. The exhibition presents containers of spiritual and mnemonic residue. From garment to architecture to vessel, the pieces pull you closer while expanding the notion of our presence inside of time, using photography, video and sculpture. The show will be up through Saturday, May 8th and the gallery is open Fridays and Saturdays from 12-6 and by appointment.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have rarely felt like I have had a mentor in my life. My parents were an architect and an artist so, although they split up when I was young, their sensitivity to aesthetics, form and meaning pervaded my understanding of the world. I was greatly influenced by music and film for much of my life and while inspired by the works of Satie, Jodorowsky, Lynch, Beuys, Tarkovsky and many others, I was definitely not mentored by any of them. In fact, most of them do not live their lives in a way I would emulate but their output sparked a sense of possibility for me that shaped my life. As an alpha and enneagram number eight, I feel like more of an influencer and leader than student, for better or for worse. The artist Nayland Blake, who chaired my first master’s program, had a large impact on the way I process ideas and approach being an artist.
In terms of networking, the key is to just be yourself, make work from the heart and work hard and be empathic to others, remembering community and always asking yourself what you can contribute, instead of wondering how to get something that you want. One of the amazing and wonderful things about getting older is how large your personal network gets and how your knowledge and wisdom grow. I would not have been able to make my films at a younger age; I just didn’t have enough depth. Keep in touch with people, make an effort to support them in whatever way you are able to and live with grace and sincerity.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alyssataylorwendt.com
- Instagram: @alyssataylorwendt_studio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlyssaTaylorWendt/
Image Credits
Portrait of Alyssa Taylor Wendt was taken by Scott David Gordon, 2019.
