If you walked past an Alison Elizabeth Taylor piece without stopping, you’d probably just think it was a really good painting. Maybe a bit moody. A bit gritty. But then you catch the light hitting a seam. You step closer. Suddenly, you realize there’s no paint—at least not in the way you expected.
It’s wood. All of it.
Alison Elizabeth Taylor has spent the better part of two decades reviving a "dead" art form called marquetry. It’s basically the fancy wood inlay you’d see on a 17th-century French commode at Versailles. But instead of flowery patterns for kings, Taylor uses it to depict foreclosed homes, desert meth labs, and guys getting haircuts under the Williamsburg Bridge. It’s a wild, jarring contrast that has made her one of the most interesting voices in contemporary art.
The Las Vegas Roots of a Modern Master
Taylor didn't start with rare veneers and laser cutters. She grew up in Las Vegas. That’s a city defined by "surface value" if there ever was one. It’s a place of boom and bust, neon and plywood. Honestly, you can see that DNA in everything she makes.
She was trained as a painter at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and later got her MFA at Columbia University. But the pivot to wood happened almost by accident. She started out making collages using wood-grain contact paper she bought at a 99-cent store. Cheap stuff. Basically stickers.
But it clicked.
She eventually visited the Studiolo of the Duke of Urbino at the Met. It’s this legendary room from the 15th century where every "shelf" and "book" on the wall is actually an incredibly complex wood inlay. Taylor saw that and thought, Why can't I use this for the American West? ## Redefining Marquetry for the Rest of Us
Usually, marquetry is about luxury. It’s about showing off how much money you have by how many exotic woods you can cram into a tabletop. Taylor flipped the script.
✨ Don't miss: Williams Sonoma Deer Park IL: What Most People Get Wrong About This Kitchen Icon
She uses these "aristocratic" materials to document what she calls the "abject and mundane." Think about it:
- A dilapidated tract house in the Nevada desert.
- A cluttered room with a Vietnam-era helmet and a handgun.
- People hunched over slot machines in a smoky casino.
By using wood—a material that feels permanent and precious—to depict things that are falling apart, she creates this weird tension. Her 2008–2010 work, "Security House," which is now in the Brooklyn Museum, is a perfect example. It's huge. It looks like a painting of a ruined home, but it’s actually a jigsaw puzzle of natural wood grains. It makes the "boring" parts of America feel epic.
The Shift to the "Marquetry Hybrid"
For a long time, Taylor stuck strictly to wood. No paint allowed. But artists get restless. Around 2012, she started breaking her own rules. She began "painting" onto the wood, using oil and acrylic to add colors that nature just doesn't provide.
She calls this the marquetry hybrid.
It’s a mix of wood veneer, paint, and sometimes even photographic imagery. In her recent show, "Future Promise" (2021) at the James Cohan Gallery, she used this hybrid style to capture Brooklyn during the pandemic. There’s a famous piece called "Anthony Cuts under the Wburg Bridge, Sunset" that depicts a real hairstylist who moved his business outdoors when salons were closed.
It’s gorgeous. The sunset is painted, but the structure of the bridge and the texture of the hair? That's the wood talking.
🔗 Read more: Finding the most affordable way to live when everything feels too expensive
Why People Get Her Work Wrong
A common mistake is thinking Taylor is just a "craft" artist. People love to focus on the technical skill—and yeah, the skill is insane—but that’s not the point. She’s not trying to be a master carpenter.
She’s a storyteller.
Her work is about the American identity crisis. She’s looking at how we live now—the inequality, the resilience, the way we try to build something beautiful in a world that feels like it’s being reclaimed by nature.
She won the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition in 2022 from the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery. That’s a big deal. It proved that her work isn't just a "neat trick" with wood; it’s top-tier American portraiture.
Key Collections You Can Visit
If you want to see her work in person (which you should, because photos don't do the texture justice), she’s in some heavy-hitter collections:
- Brooklyn Museum, NY
- Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, AR
- Des Moines Art Center, IA (which hosted her first major survey, The Sum of It)
- Toledo Museum of Art, OH
What’s Next for Taylor?
Lately, Taylor has been leaning even harder into the "hybrid" aspect. Her 2022-2023 touring exhibition, "The Sum of It," showed just how far she’s come from those 99-cent store stickers. She’s incorporating mica, glitter, and laser-engraved details.
💡 You might also like: Executive desk with drawers: Why your home office setup is probably failing you
She is also working on large-scale permanent installations. If you’re ever at the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island in NYC, look for her piece "Reclamation." It’s a whole room that looks like it’s being swallowed by a forest, made entirely in her signature style.
How to Appreciate Her Work (The Insider Way)
If you’re looking at an Alison Elizabeth Taylor piece, don't just stand back. Move.
The thing about wood veneer is that the grain changes as you walk past it. The light catches different fibers. The "painting" literally moves with you. It’s an interactive experience that regular oil-on-canvas just can't replicate.
Look for the "mistakes." Taylor often leaves gaps or uses "rotting" wood textures to show that the world she’s depicting isn't perfect. It’s that honesty—the mix of high-end craft and low-end reality—that makes her work stay with you.
Actionable Insights for Art Lovers
- Follow the Gallery: Keep an eye on James Cohan (New York) or Jessica Silverman (San Francisco). They represent her and usually have the first look at new series.
- Check the Monograph: If you can't get to a museum, look for the book Alison Elizabeth Taylor: The Sum of It (2022). It includes essays by Naomi Fry and Lynne Tillman that explain the "why" behind her wood choices.
- Look for the Outwin: Her prize-winning portrait Anthony Cuts is often on tour with the Smithsonian. It's a masterclass in how to make a contemporary subject feel timeless.
Taylor proves that you don't need a brush to be a painter. Sometimes, you just need a very sharp knife and a really good eye for grain.