Growing up, Jamaican-born artist Michael Talbot’s hero was Australian zookeeper and conservationist Steve Irwin. Talbot’s dreams of becoming a zoologist haven’t yet been realized, but his love of animals and the natural world comes through strongly in his paintings, illustrations and public artworks.
Talbot studied illustration and graphic design at Lesley University with a minor in animation and began his career doing illustration commissions. That’s still a small part of his work as a full-time artist, but currently most of his time is spent on public art and personal projects.
Stairway Mural by Michael Talbot PHOTO: COURTESY OF MICHAEL TALBOT
Last year, Talbot worked with Rob “Problak” Gibbs in a team of local artists on the basketball court murals at Malcolm X Park in Roxbury. His piece “Lady Sings the Blues” was featured on the GBH Community Canvas digital mural in November and last month he completed an indoor mural at the Riverside Community Care Scott M. Bock Center in Dedham.
“I’ve moved away from saying that I do illustration or graphic design or animation. At this point, I would say that I do narrative work,” said Talbot. “The thing that I enjoy the most is telling stories through my art. That is what people are able to connect to.”
“Inner Wilds,” an exhibition of Talbot’s work currently on display at Forge Baking Company in Somerville, is a good example of his emphasis on storytelling. The 10 works in the show tell the story of a personification of Destiny. The paintings on wood panel show Destiny as a powerful woman with a halo of black, curly hair wearing a beaked bird mask. Throughout the paintings she forges her own path.
“Too Much Of Something Good” by Michael Talbot. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MICHAEL TALBOT
The works in this exhibition are painted on wood, Talbot’s preferred medium at the moment. The grain and knots of the wood become incorporated into Talbot’s characters and universe, while paying homage to the natural world.
In this exhibition Talbot includes a QR code to his website which has narrative text to accompany each painting. Viewers can move from piece to piece reading and visualizing the story. “Inner Wilds” is on view through June.
Talbot often exhibits at coffee shops and bakeries, and he does so very intentionally.
“In the idea of fine art exhibitions in galleries, there’s definitely a notion of high class, of I can’t afford it, of this is definitely out of my space,” said Talbot. “I want to break that stigma and make it more accessible in that sense that any and everybody either can make art and present it or consume art.”
Talbot finds inspiration all over, but one of his primary motivations comes from another artist, Richard Nattoo, whom Talbot affectionately refers to as his “art rival.” Talbot met Nattoo in high school and friendly competition has kept each of them creating their best work ever since. Nattoo is also Jamaican and the two frequently discuss the art scene on the island.
“Morning Glory,” 64-square-foot mural design for Boston Children’s Hospital. PHOTO: COURTESY OF MICHAEL TALBOT
Over the years, Talbot has been frustrated by the tropes and expectations put on Caribbean artists to produce certain types of work or act in certain ways. In telling his own story, Talbot hopes to illustrate that Jamaican art is not a monolith.
“I’m still having that element of heritage and culture without the expectations and look and feel that we felt was forced on us earlier,” said Talbot. “For the art that I do, I want to focus on the positive and shed light on what can be.”
As for zoology, Talbot hasn’t taken his Steve Irwin dreams off the table. After all, he already has the skills to document his wildlife finds.
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