AJ Taylor extends the tradition of Australian landscape painting through a distinctive and highly individual process. Central to his practice are richly worked surfaces built from multiple discrete layers applied over a relief of seemingly chaotic marks that evoke natural systems. Although these layers are sanded back to a smooth finish, traces of the accumulated gestures remain. The colour, density and complexity of these underlying marks inform the subject, mood and scale of each work. At times they convincingly suggest elements such as leaves, bark or grass; elsewhere, unexpected colours and irregular forms disrupt visual logic, generating a productive tension between abstraction and representation.

Taylor is ultimately concerned with perception—how viewers reconcile disparate or unintelligible marks into a coherent image. This process of visual and mental synthesis lies at the heart of his practice, as abstraction and realism continually intersect.

Based in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, AJ Taylor has been a finalist in major awards including the Wynne Prize, Fleurieu Art Prize, John Glover Art Prize, the John Leslie Art Prize and the Hawkesbury Art Prize. His work is held in significant public and corporate collections, including Parliament House, Canberra, Artbank, BHP Billiton, Macquarie Bank and the Museum of Brisbane.