Stunning Scenes Made from Paper Unfold in Shannon Taylor’s Miniature Compact Dioramas

On New Year’s Eve in 2022, a huge storm swept through the Bay Area, causing major flooding and damage to Shannon Taylor’s studio. “I had been preparing pieces for an upcoming show and had to move my entire studio to a small table in our dining room,” she tells Colossal. “Due to stress and lack of space, I started making these diorama pieces as a way to relax.”

Each exquisitely detailed miniature work is created from tiny watercolor paintings on paper, layered into antique cosmetic compacts that Taylor finds at flea markets, vintage shops, rummage sales, online, or from friends. “My favorite thing is when people have sent me their own, or oftentimes, their grandmother’s collections,” she says. “I love objects with history, and these cosmetic pieces are such personal items.”

From tiny seabeds brimming with clams, fish, and coral to elaborate buffet spreads in the Italian countryside, Taylor creates each tiny component by painting a picture and then snipping out the shape using detail scissors or an X-acto knife. Through trial and error, she figures out new scenes as she goes and ways to keep the itty-bitty pieces organized. “I learned to secure all of the cutouts in bead organizers because our Roomba dislodged a tray of hand-cut flowers… and then vacuumed them.”

Taylor has pieces in two group shows, including Wunderkammer at Beinart Gallery through April 21 and a twelfth-anniversary show at Arch Enemy Arts through April 28. She will also have work in Yokai at Haven Gallery, which opens on May 4, and a solo show opening in June at Arch Enemy Arts titled Star Garden. Find more on the artist’s website and Instagram.

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