Jo Taylor was born in Lancashire in 1969 and studied at Leeds Metropolitan University. Over the past few years she has exhibited widely throughout the UK, America and Dubai. Her work is included in many museum and private collections world-wide, including those of leading equestrian families. Jo has travelled the world looking at horses: on the Camargue marshes, at the Golega Horse Fair, out in Montana cattle country and on the plains of South America. She has been Artist in Residence at the University of Liverpool Department of Veterinary Science, where she has had the opportunity to study closely the anatomy of the horse, drawing from the inside out. “It is pure instinct for me to work with the horse. It’s unique power to nurture the soul is pivotal to my work. In this modern era there is a shifting relationship between man, horse and the land as the horse breaks free from it’s previous role in history. I am working with a liberated force. Through watching, drawing and riding horses, I try to capture a sense of their power and presence. I have been influenced by artists such as Leonardo and Gericault, who manage to capture the expressive body of animals. I am also hugely influenced by sculpture; by layering paint, paper, pastel, wax etc I am trying to put muscle down and breathe life into the work, so hopefully the viewer can feel as if they can see the other side of the beast in my work – as though they can walk around it.”