Tayler Buss (she/her) is an artist working on Treaty 1 Territory in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Through mold-making, casting, and sculptural processes, her work explores themes of preservation and immortality. She has shown locally and nationally in galleries such as PLATFORM Centre (MB), aceartinc (MB), Art Mur (QB), and Art Museum at the University of Toronto (ON), and was a muralist for the WalltoWall Mural Festival in July 2020. She was the Manitoba winner for the 2021 BMO 1st Art! Competition in September 2021. Her most recent solo show, DogDogDog, was shown at La Maison des artistes visuel in November 2022.
My practice uses sculpture and mould-making to explore themes of temporality and preservation. I use mould-making as a process of examining anxieties of impermanence and a desire for immortality. My work presents mould-making as a form of preservation. Each project begins by selecting an object to mould. From there, multiple copies are cast in plaster from an original mold.
The sculptures are made up of materials such as metal, wood, motel blankets, ceiling tiles, hair extensions, and other recycled materials. Presented alongside one another, the readymades and casts emphasize each other's materiality through contrast. The readymades’ materiality is what makes them identifiable. On the other hand, the material of plaster has been stripped of its identifiable material characteristics. The casting process white-washes the original objects, producing diluted copies devoid of life. The plaster casts recontextualize the readymade’s original utility. What were once useful pieces of equipment are now static art objects.
The plaster casts act as ghosts of the original objects. The form is preserved by the cast, but the objects’ original materiality and functionality are lost. The casting process produces purely mimetic objects. Plaster’s matte finish diminishes the textural surface, creating a haunting shell of an object.
Conceptually, my practice explores a fear of mortality and death. My practice seeks out an alternative outlet for these anxieties. Preservation in a physical form provides a sense of security. An object suggests permanence through tangibility and durability. Regardless of material, no arrangement of matter is permanent. The permanence my sculptures allude to is not infinite, but they can outlast the human body. The plaster casts are offspring of an original object. Multiplying the number of casts increases the object’s potential for permanence. As the viewer engages with the sculptures, their own mortality is confronted by the permanence of the casts.
My practice uses sculpture and mould-making to explore themes of temporality and preservation. I use mould-making as a process of examining anxieties of impermanence and a desire for immortality. My work presents mould-making as a form of preservation. Each project begins by selecting an object to mould. From there, multiple copies are cast in plaster from an original mold.
The sculptures are made up of materials such as metal, wood, motel blankets, ceiling tiles, hair extensions, and other recycled materials. Presented alongside one another, the readymades and casts emphasize each other's materiality through contrast. The readymades’ materiality is what makes them identifiable. On the other hand, the material of plaster has been stripped of its identifiable material characteristics. The casting process white-washes the original objects, producing diluted copies devoid of life. The plaster casts recontextualize the readymade’s original utility. What were once useful pieces of equipment are now static art objects.
The plaster casts act as ghosts of the original objects. The form is preserved by the cast, but the objects’ original materiality and functionality are lost. The casting process produces purely mimetic objects. Plaster’s matte finish diminishes the textural surface, creating a haunting shell of an object.
Conceptually, my practice explores a fear of mortality and death. My practice seeks out an alternative outlet for these anxieties. Preservation in a physical form provides a sense of security. An object suggests permanence through tangibility and durability. Regardless of material, no arrangement of matter is permanent. The permanence my sculptures allude to is not infinite, but they can outlast the human body. The plaster casts are offspring of an original object. Multiplying the number of casts increases the object’s potential for permanence. As the viewer engages with the sculptures, their own mortality is confronted by the permanence of the casts.