Behind The Upside by Michael Taylor

This massive, two-colour screen print has its origins in the pages of Michael Taylor’s sketchbook – we
were keen to see how a small pencil drawing would translate into a really large-scale artwork.

We always love delving into artists’ sketchbooks to conceive new collaborations. A sketchbook invites intimate engagement with the artist’s creative process and demonstrates an immediacy of expression seldom seen in other mediums. Taylor’s sketchbook is a particular a treasure trove because he is, quite simply, a master of mark-making – but also because of his relationship with drawing. He refers to his work in general as drawings, “…not so much in terms of medium as in the act of drawing itself: the unreserved process and sense of immediacy – not overly precious but, rather, intuitive, deferring to the drawings themselves and what they ‘want’ to become.”

It’s always wonderful to get insights into a particular artwork from the artist themselves, and for this special release, Michael Taylor shared some of his thinking around the imagery, composition and narrative of the work:

“The Upside continues an ongoing exploration of landscape as a site of suggestion rather than description. The work deliberately withholds a central figure, extending a familiar absence in these landscapes, while allowing peripheral elements to imply presence, pause, or movement. The umbrella-like form introduces a subtle suggestion of human occupation without anchoring it to a fixed protagonist, leaving the narrative open and unresolved.

The setting itself feels slightly removed from reality. The sculptural rock forms, rendered as dense black shapes, suggest something exotic or dreamlike – a space that sits apart from the everyday. These forms also speak directly to drawing as an act: the use of the pencil, the accumulation of dark mass, and the deliberate intervention of black shapes against open ground. Attention is drawn not only to what is depicted, but to space itself as an informed counterbalance. The open areas function as a charged field that exists both within and beyond the image, holding potential rather than description, and quietly shaping how the visible elements are read.

There is a subtle tension at play in the composition. The palm leaves appear to reach toward the umbrella, as if attempting to pull it back into the frame, creating a push and pull between staying and leaving. The umbrella functions almost as an accessory rather than a shelter – perched on the rock like a hat – carrying the narrative in the absence of a body. It introduces a sense of fragility and beauty against the weight and darkness of the rock, allowing something hard and immovable to take on an unexpectedly gentle, almost
tender quality.

The title, The Upside, gestures toward the possibility of return. It suggests a place that can be exited, stepped away from, or only partially inhabited, yet remains understood and significant enough to revisit. At the same time, the title operates in a more literal register, referring simply to the upper surface of the rock – its pinnacle, its point of clarity – where the image momentarily settles. Rather than offering resolution, the work holds this position lightly, allowing moments of departure and return to coexist within the same suspended landscape.”