Jay Walker – Tape art

"The Heart II," photo courtesy of Marina Rodrigues.
“The Heart II”, Jay Walker, 2016.

Artist Jay Walker has been an inspiration of mine for my final piece and those leading up to it. His work with tape has inspired me to experiment and be more creative; to look at a material and think, “how can I use this to make something unique?” What I like most about Walker’s work is that it’s installed directly onto the wall, in his exhibitions, and the tape itself is both the background and the foreground of each piece. This is what appeals me most about my final pieces, it’s that they’re isolated, without any other distractions and are effectively simple. I like using tape as a medium because you can manipulate it to have whatever effect you want. The production of tape art stems from graffiti art and the aesthetic of creating marks straight onto a surface, usually a wall. Jay Walker is very passionate about drawing with tape and held his own workshop for aspiring tape artists and he is a part of the tape art movement. The movement of tape art started in the 1960s. Derived from urban art, it was often used to create outlines or 3D abstract sculptures using light. It was and still is popular because it allows you to install the work anywhere, for example, floors, doors, ceilings, walls, in galleries or outside; the possibilities are endless.

History of Tape Art
Abstract tape art wave (2014) by TAPE OVER in Trouville, France.
Masking Tape Art Ideas
Tape art facade image (2018) by Tape That, made for Tape Art.