, and lay a kiss upon my mouth.

Max Taylor, (also known by his alias, Sparrow) is a queer, interdisciplinary maker based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax). With a special focus in sculpture, painting, installation, and photography, Sparrow considers his medium of choice to be undefined, and is truly inspired by all. Taylor is drawn to the woods, the ocean, meaningful connections with the community, and finds great peace within the sunrise, the changing of the seasons, and a hot cup of coffee.

Artist Statement

When I envisioned this work I wanted to make something that was unusual. As a queer person, the lines are blurred, in expectations for one’s future, the roles one plays in life, and knowing that your time on earth will be defined differently than other members of society. 

Sometimes, I am blindfolded by desire, and other times I am blindfolded by desperation. Most times, I am held back by my own worries to even determine if something is good for me. The imagery in this piece is describing me and my subconscious, Man vs Self. I get so entangled by my own concerns that I am often unable to make anything of the present. With a rolling mind and chaos in every nook of it, my brain is often crying out with frustration and anxiety over every little thing.

Being held back and restrained by your own fears is not an easy thing. This work is describing the relationship between my body and my mind, my physical and emotional forms. With wanting to succeed, wanting to perform well, obsessing with perfection, I am at war in my own head at all times of day.

Knowing that my time here doesn’t fall into a binary system sometimes makes it harder to find my purpose. Do I make this, or that? Do I go right, or left? It’s as if I am always asking myself, “do I succeed, or do I fail?” For a man that exists out of the binary, my black and white, perfection or failure system keeps me from enjoying the truth of existence. It’s as if I have tied back my hands and covered my eyes, not letting myself even make a choice to preserve the chance of potential failure. I keep myself contained and protected, hindering any possibility of relief, predicting doom before it happens to prepare in case it does.

, and lay a kiss upon my mouth is a self portrait of not my physical form, but the constant war in my own mind that controls my every decision. It is a depiction of my anxiety - my heart, my mind, my spirit, all in constant disagreement with the idea that I could just… be happy.