The Ohio Artist Registry (OAR) is an exciting opportunity for artists to share their work, connect with the creative community, and establish an online presence—all on a free, virtual platform! The OAR encourages artists working in all art forms, throughout Ohio and beyond, to create a profile, which allows them to better promote themselves and their work. Being listed in the OAR provides artists with new opportunities to share their work with clients, galleries, patrons, and audiences. A listing in the OAR does not confer an endorsement, approval, or verification by the Ohio Arts Council.
For more information, contact Kathy Signorino, artist programs director, at kathy.signorino@oac.ohio.gov or 614-728-6140.
2024 Ohio Artist Registry Juried Exhibition
John Taylor-Lehman
zanesville Ohio United States
Bio
My parents exposed me to the arts, but encouraged the pursuit of a practical career. I earned degrees in the natural sciences and taught in college and secondary schools for 30 years. My career, conservation ethic, and love of nature influence my artistic choices. Flora, fauna, and the environment frequently appear in my artwork. As an untrained artist working in the folk tradition I use recycled materials. I am grateful for the example set by people surviving by using local resources. Their inventiveness has challenged me to create works that contrast with our own “throwaway society”.
Artist Statement
It’s all about the medium! Using materials that would otherwise be discarded is a subtext for my art. I have a personal and professional commitment to conservation of resources.
My art work is composed of: beer caps, scrap wood, license plates, beer cans, and beer tabs—all recycled—. Three dimensional art pieces have substructures of scrap wood. Two dimensional “canvases” are also made of discarded wood. Beer caps are flattened and fastened with 5/8 in. wire nails.
A steady supply of these raw materials has been channeled to me ever since people saw the type of work I was creating. Bags, cans, and boxes of beer caps regularly show up on my door step. At times I have enlisted the help of the neighborhood children to sort and categorize my thoroughly washed caps. Their efforts are appropriately rewarded.
My training and career in the life sciences influences my choice of subject matter immensely in the beginning of my “beer cap” art exploration. I saw beer caps as fish scales immediately and set out to create a fish. License plates were an easy choice for fins. 2-Dimensioanl and 3-Dimensional fishes were followed by birds, gorillas, snakes, and other animals. The great variety of breweries in this country trying to get our attention with colorful caps and cans provides a broad palette from which I work.
