Kayla Johnson

I love the idea of re-contextualizing other people’s images or artwork because it challenges notions of what art can be, as seen by artists such as Andy Warhol and Sherry Levine. What types of images do you look for and where?

Taylor Diem

I would say I’m drawn towards history and not necessarily contemporary culture or images. I really like to push the envelope as far as Playboys go, I don’t know why that’s become a crazy thing that’s so censored. I really like to do things that people may not like.

KJ

So where do you look for images?

TD

Always thrift, like Savers and Goodwill. I have never gone to a store and bought a brand new full-priced book, item, or anything. That’s actually how it started too, I was in a Goodwill years ago in Michigan, and I found a Times magazine. It was a “100 years of Time Magazine Covers” and I thought it was the coolest thing. That was the first time I ever sat down and collaged something.

KJ

Do you remember how old you were?

TD

I started going to thrift stores when my sister started driving, so I was probably 14 or 15 years old. Since my sister would drive us and you had to be 16 at the time. That was our thing, we would always go after school.

KJ

And was this in Detroit or Flint?

TD

Nope, this was still Flint, well Flushing, the small town we were in. But, the Goodwills we would go to are in Flint, Clio, and random other small-towns.

KJ

And did you buy it with the intention of incorporating it into your own artwork, or did you buy it just because you thought it was cool?

TD

No, I saw the book and saw something cooler that could be done. I love books but at the time obviously, I didn’t have a coffee table. I mean, I was 14 years old haha. I’m really into coffee table books, and I think they’re cool, but they don’t get looked through enough. And as far as Playboys go I had a whole box. I forgot who gave it to me, one of my friends in Detroit. We were all messing around in the lofts one night and she gave me a whole box of old Playboys. They sat in my room forever, so I was like, “Why not use them?”. It’s just cooler to be able to expand what’s inside the book that nobody will ever go look at. I like to blend from multiple sources. It doesn’t always have to be from the same magazine, and I’ve found it easier to work from multiple sources and put together something from different time periods, etc.

KJ

I understand this series, Raw Feelings Create Pretty Words, is the first time you’ve included your own writing and poetry into your works. What was the hesitation in doing so, and would you do it again in the future?

TD

Yeah, I think I would. There was definitely a lot of hesitation. I just kept on panicking because I’ve only been in pop-ups before, I never produced work for a gallery setting. So, I kept questioning everything, “like are you sure you want to go this route for the world to see?” And I wanted it to be something I was going to be proud of. Working on the text was the easiest and coolest route. It really forced me to do something that I didn’t want to. But then, once I got everything up I got such good feedback, and it feels so good to know that other people can relate to my artwork.

KJ

I think that’s what’s so compelling, is the combined image and text. I feel like it forces people to take a longer time to look at your works and actually read.

TD

Yes! There are certain ones too, like the one where all the ladies have the man pinned down in the Playboy magazine. That’s a favorite because that was one of the first poems I’ve ever shared, referencing a pivotal moment in my life. I went through a terrible situation, dude took advantage of me, it was a whole thing. I remember waking up in the middle of the night and I just started writing that poem, and the weight that was lifted off my shoulders once I got the words out was such a relief because I could never talk about it. I didn’t know how to talk about it, I didn’t tell my mom for two years, and it was something I dealt with and lived with for a moment. Incorporating that poem with that image meant so much to me, it’s such a powerful combination between text and image.

KJ

Because in the poem you’re saying “no” and the person’s not listening so you feel paralyzed?

TD

Yeah so instead the image is a bunch of women being like, “No, we’re gonna tie you down” haha. So that was my favorite. I think a couple of them really put into perspective how cool it was to see an image fit so well into my writing, and the fact that I was finding them in old magazines made it more special.

KJ

So with that work, you already had the poem and you found an image that aligned. Do you always work in that manner? Or do you find an image and then write something that aligns with that?

TD

No, I made up probably five to seven of them brand new. I just saw an image, thought of a couple of words that could relate, and I went back and wrote a poem for it. It could really go either way. Just the other day I directed a music video for a friend that asked me to help, and I knew instantly the exact location and everything. I don’t have an imagination, but I can envision things as far as how it could work. Anyways, poetry comes very easy to me. It’s how I write, it’s easy for me to express myself. They go hand-in-hand, and neither one really has to come first and I could do it either way. What was the most mind-blowing was being able to find pieces to already match the written ones, and if I didn’t I just drew something so it worked.

KJ

Did you have to find new magazines for this show, or did you just use images you already had?

TY

No, a lot of it I already had. The only new magazine that is from 2020 is a part of the long extended ones, the big two-piece (ie Confused News). Everything else is collected over years or something I got from Savers.

KJ

Many of your poems in this series reflect personal narratives. Do you feel like incorporating hardships and realizations from your personal life helps you process and move on from negative experiences, kind of like a form of therapy and personal growth?

TD

More than anything. As I just told you a minute ago, I will never forget getting that poem out on paper. I hold onto emotions, I hold onto things, so until I can let go of them I can physically feel the weight. Once I let go I feel lighter, my chest feels like I can breathe again. I don’t deal with things very well, I cope in terrible ways, so for me, I found to just sit down and write, it doesn’t even have to be in poem form. To get how I’m feeling out on paper is the most therapeutic thing for me. I actually started doing it more when I was in college studying psychology. We did a study on different ways that people can cope and writing is an example of a healthy tool to process emotions. Mrs. Kabeen, that was my professor (shout out to her) said, “Just have a journal that you write all your feelings in”, and that was very therapeutic and helpful. I tell people all the time when they’re stressed just to write it out. You don’t have to tell anybody; it can be a secret and you can choose not to tell anyone. Normally, if I’m writing or doing something that I know someone is going to see, I’ll redo it a million times. My journals are the rawest part of me, they are scary but also pretty.
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Taylor Diem is a mixed media artist who was born near Flint, Michigan but currently works and lives in Reno, Nevada. She primarily works with collage, designing compositions that utilize imagery from vintage magazines of the 20th century, many of which are from Playboys. Diem’s artistic practice is expressive of personal anecdotes, exploring relatable elements of lived experiences, and implications of history in the contemporary era. Contact & commissions: DiemTaylor7@gmail.com

Kayla A. Johnson is a 2020 graduate of UNR who studied art history and business administration. She founded UNR’s first Art History Club, served as a curatorial assistant at the Lilley Museum, and worked in art galleries in Reno and New York. She now works in the Nevada Museum of Art’s Visitor Services Department and is a Holland Project Gallery Committee member.