The Office of Student Research is proud to feature Taylor Sizemore in this week’s “Scholar Story”.

Taylor Sizemore is a senior at Longwood University. She is earning a degree in Art with a concentration in Painting and Drawing. She also has a minor in Art History. Her work focuses on exploring her relationship to food, control, idealized perceptions, and the false reality available on Instagram. The series is a combination of (6) 24” x 24” still life oil paintings, juxtaposed with (6) 9” x 11” figurative oil paintings. Taylor started this series in August 2020 and she has spent a little over 500 hours working on it.

Taylor decided to start this project because she “wanted to work in the still life genre of painting because I had never done that before -- I thought 2020/2021 was the perfect time to explore the genre due to Covid restrictions and life feeling “still”. I chose to focus on food and objects disrupted with figurative works as an unexpected choice to explore eating related neurosis.”

This project has had a huge impact on her “artistic growth conceptually as well as my technical skills.” It has also helped her confront thoughts surrounding food and the body in a positive way. Her favorite part of this project was “the struggle of improvement. In all aspects. Not really knowing how to do something, working through it and figuring it out.”

Taylor’s work will be on display at <link expired> starting April 16, 2021 through May 6th. One of the pieces was also selected for a National Show at Valdosta State University, January 17, 2021 - March 2nd.

After graduation in May, Taylor plans to continue her education in 2022 with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts. She would eventually like to be a college professor for painting and drawing and have her own gallery someday.

Congratulations to Taylor on her success!

If you would like to have your research featured in a “Scholar Story”, or if you would like to learn more about getting involved in research at Longwood University, please visit Longwood’s Office of Student Research website http://www.longwood.edu/office-of-student-research/

or contact Amorette Barber, Director of the Office of Student Research (osr@longwood.edu or barberar@longwood.edu).