Howard Taikeff
BiographyI have lived in Ecuador since 1993 and teach at a private liberal arts university called the University San Francisco, Quito. Ecuador is a special place to live because it is peaceful and far from the hectic and accelerated nature of the “first world.” The cost of living is less and there is more time for working.
The result is an environment amenable to artistic production and freedom to explore ones own artistic instincts without external pressure from society.
I have always loved the human figure and traditional materials such as stone, bronze, clay, and steel. Portraiture has been an element in my artistic production since my student days. I have done traditional busts, reliefs and work that have been influenced by Modernism, Primitivism, and experimentation.
In South-America we speak of “Mestizaje” which is the mixing of cultures and forms based on external influences like the colonization by the Spanish and the more recent influx of foreigners from the U.S., Europe and other parts of the world, and globalization. This creates new hybrids that are evident in my own work through the combination of styles and points of view with indigenous characteristics and local influences, facial types, etc.
Howard Taikeff |
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