Artist on the Rise: Elaine Taggatz

Bold medium exploration can often be intimidating and uncharted territory for any artist, but with a penchant for hands-on artistry, recent Augustana University graduate Elaine Taggatz is well-suited for the journey.

Elaine Taggatz

“I guess I’ve just been drawing for as long as I can remember,” said the Augie alum, whose collegiate journey started off at St. Olaf University before transferring to the Sioux Falls institution. “I can’t really pinpoint when. But I do know that I started out drawing, and that was what brought me into painting. And that was kind of what I always thought my concentration would be.

“I thought I was going to college, to art school and I was going to be a painter, do illustration and drawing. But I found in college that I actually couldn’t choose a concentration — I ended up doing a ton of sculpture, ceramics, fiber arts toward the end and textiles. So I guess for me it started with drawing, but it just kind of turned into a love for all of it.”

That interest in the fiber arts could perhaps be linked back to her own familial connections, particularly in her mother’s love of knitting.

“We’ve got knitters and a lot of musicians in my family — a ton of people who can play guitar. I never, ever could do that,” Taggatz said. “So in my family, everybody has their niche that they’re very passionate about — and in my family it’s more about the passion than the end product.”

It was in part her mother’s love of teaching knitting to her friends that spurred her to engage in fiber arts for her final senior project at Augustana.

“My mom taught me. She taught all the other women in her life,” Taggatz said. “We would have Friday night knitting club growing up, when the kids would go to the basement and the women would sit upstairs and knit together. The sense of community from that I thought was really beautiful.”

This discovery led her to dig into the history of the craft, and the ways in which it was often seen historically as on par with the more societally elevated mediums, such as oil painting.

“People would go to academies to learn the art of knitting, produce these beautiful tapestries, knitted garments — all of this stuff, to be declared a master knitter,” she said. “And then the Industrial Revolution happened, it wasn’t a necessity anymore and it got pushed aside and landed in the laps of middle-class women.

“I still don’t think fiber arts are recognized the way other mediums are. I think even among fiber artists I don’t think they always appreciate the way their work relates to the art world. It’s interesting to me to see how that’s changing. I would like to see more of fiber arts and textile arts in the art world.”

And Taggatz took the opportunity in her senior showcase to show some pieces with an even greater connection to her personal life.

“I exhibited some knitted works that were really strongly connected to my mom, who passed away a few months ago,” she said. “So I was really proud to not have just my work up there, but hers too. The final piece in the knitted works was a sweater that she had started and I had finished. So I was not just proud for myself, but for her. I was proud to have that opportunity to exhibit my work alongside hers.”

Asked to declare a “style,” Taggatz is quick to cite some key creative inspirations, such as the literary works of Shirley Jackson and the illustrations of Carson Ellis.

“I’m into horror — I like gothic stuff. But I also really like whimsy — I do a lot of skulls and birds and that kind of stuff,” she said. “I would say Shirley Jackson is my absolute favorite human being ever — her books just impact me in such a way that I was just hooked. That combined with the campy 70s/80s slasher movies that pulled me in — so kind of a combination of the psychological, ‘there’s something creeping down the hallway,’ along with the blood-and-gore movies. I just love them both so much. 

“I think my style is a little more subtle than the slashers, but they’re all a part of the things I enjoy, so I kind of want to create similar things.”

This gothic sensibility has created a response that Taggatz hopes for – that her work raises questions, rather than just being something to look at.

“The things I have a ton of fun with are the things that end up being weirder. I like my teeth paintings, I’ve done some anthropomorphic birds that kind of get the ‘huh’ response — but those are my favorites.”

The now full-time graphic designer appreciates the ability to earn her living in a creative space post-graduation, but exploration is never far from her sights.

“I feel like I’m now in a time and place where I have the freedom to experiment a little bit more with my art. I can kind of do whatever I want right now,” Taggatz said. “So I’m kind of stepping into watercolors at the moment, which is something I didn’t ever do in college. I’m excited to play and experiment. I think I’d like to get to a point where I can develop a more cohesive style across mediums. I’d like my work to be recognizable as ‘mine.’”