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Meet the Artist Taylor Barron
Moving effortlessly between illustration, murals, character design, and personal explorations, Taylor Barron, aka @tbeardraws, creates work that feels vibrant and playful at first glance, yet layered with reflections on identity, vulnerability, and power.
In this conversation, she opens up about instinctive processes, sensual symbolism, and why celebrating the body can be a quiet act of resistance.
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Creating by Instinct
For Taylor Barron, deciding which medium an idea should live in is rarely a calculated choice.
“My process might be a bit more intuitive than anything else,” she explains. “It’s often driven by my current state of emotion, an artist cliché, I know.”
Instead of locking concepts into a fixed format, she lets feeling lead. “I like to switch mediums depending on my mood. It can be especially helpful when I’m feeling stagnant. Though some mediums are better for certain ideas, I try not to box myself in too much.”
That emotional instinct carries through into her themes. Beneath the vibrant colors, playful compositions, and touches of absurdity lie explorations of identity, the body, and emotional vulnerability. Humor becomes a bridge into more sensitive territory. “While I do want to approach certain subjects with sensitivity, I think it’s also important to break the taboo around them,” Taylor says. “Adding whimsy and levity to these themes is important in a society that is driven towards puritanism.”
She adds, “I’m also just someone who regularly uses humor and color as a coping mechanism for the intensely stressful and cruel world we live in.”
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Navigating visibility online adds another layer of complexity. Taylor Barron shares both children’s book projects and sensual, sometimes NSFW imagery, a range that can surprise people.“This is something I have thought about a lot lately,” she says. “It’s doubly complicated for me because a large part of my projects are children’s books.”
As online spaces grow more restricted, she finds herself constantly evaluating what feels right to share. Still, her position is clear. “I do want to fight against censorship, so I am trying to toe the line while sharing what I believe is still appropriate for the general public.”
For those encountering her work for the first time, she hopes the initial feeling is lightness, followed by reflection. “I hope that my work leaves people with a sense of whimsy and lightheartedness,” she says, “but also a curiosity towards exploring their relationships with themselves, their bodies, and the world.”
Ceremony, Sensuality and Subtle Resistance
In a recent NSFW collaboration, Taylor Barron intentionally challenged expectations. While stickers are often associated with humor, she chose to move in a more serious and sensual direction.
“I wanted to go the opposite route and create something slightly more serious and sensual,” she explains.
Facial expressions became central to that intention. “I think facial expressions can really make or break a piece. I attempted to create a variety of subtle emotions within the subjects.” To make the imagery more accessible and slightly censored, she incorporated visual metaphors. “I like to incorporate visual puns, for example, licking a sword, the melting candles, or even the vulva like shape of the lace border.”
The series itself carries a ceremonial feeling, with symmetrical compositions, framed bodies, candles, swords, and mirrors. Medieval aesthetics and religious undertones play a key role.
“I wanted to explore the medieval era and hints of religion in this collection,” Taylor says. “The extreme juxtaposition between puritanism and sexuality allures me. I love thematic and visual contrast.”
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Religious devotion, with its rituals and symbolism, felt like a natural framework for exploring intimacy. “Within religion, there is so much ceremony and devotion, it almost feels natural to bring that within a sexual context.” At its most powerful, she believes, sexuality mirrors worship. “I believe at its best, sexuality is a form of worship and intense desire that results in connection.”
When intimate imagery moves into everyday formats like stickers, its meaning subtly shifts. Taylor Barron sees this as both a cultural and personal opportunity.
“Hopefully this leads to more openness in society in general,” she says, “but it’s also a subtle form of signaling for certain communities.”
As someone who is part of the LGBTQ+ community, she often reads identity and values through visual cues. A laptop or water bottle covered in stickers referencing anti fascism or sexual liberation can spark instant recognition. “More likely than not, I could see myself connecting with them, or at the very least having an interesting conversation.”
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Bodies as Resistance, Art as Everyday Armor
For Taylor Barron, making art accessible in different forms is essential to fighting isolation and anti-intellectualism. In a cultural climate she sees as increasingly conservative, body-focused art feels especially urgent.
“Society is generally veering in the direction of puritanicalism and conservatism,” she says. “So now more than ever I find it important to express ourselves and our bodies.”
Feminism, in her view, includes challenging the idea that bodies, especially women’s bodies, are inherently sexual, while also defending sexuality as a natural human phenomenon. In a world that measures worth by productivity, pleasure itself can be radical. “In a capitalistic world where productivity is the only measure of our worth, even small acts of enjoying and celebrating our bodies can be considered resistance.”
Researching medieval accessories became one of her favorite parts of the project. “I loved incorporating these elements in a somewhat modern way,” she says. The fascination lingered beyond the studio. After finishing the series, she dressed as a knight for New Year’s Eve, complete with a chainmail headpiece inspired by one of her own illustrations.
For Taylor Barron, art does not remain confined to a surface. It moves into everyday life, into clothing, into shared symbols and conversations, where intimacy and expression continue to evolve.
Thanks for the chat, Taylor! To keep up with Taylor, head on over to her Instagram, @tbeardraws.
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