Jess Taylor is an early career artist who lives and works on Kaurna land. Taylor's work explores her fascination with fictional horror through primarily digital methods of making, with a focus on concepts of the monstrous, voyeurism, and depictions of female brutality, sadism, and masochism. Taylor sees horror as a genre that interrogates and reveals our darkest cultural norms, and whose women offer powerful tales of suffering, empowerment and retribution. Using her own body and likeness exclusively, Taylor translates her own experiences into the symbolic language of horror, presenting odes to womanhood both complex and contradictory. Recent works have focussed much more intently on Taylor’s own lived experience, seeking to transform pivotal moments into symbolic narrative objects, an attempt to satisfy the very human need to see ourselves in others and be seen in turn. Taylor’s works run the gamut between immersive virtual environments, video, photography, and intricate 3D printed and fabricated objects, extending on the rich history between technology and the terrible.

Graduating with honours from Adelaide Central School of Art in 2013, Taylor completed a Masters by Research at UniSA in 2018, expanding on the ways an artist might make a friend of horror. Taylor was awarded the studio residency at Ace Open in 2019, has exhibited locally and nationally, and has been a finalist or awardee of several arts prizes. She currently lectures at Adelaide Central School of art and works out of her home studio.