Untitled, 1985

From 1984 to 1995, Henry Taylor worked as a psychiatric technician at the Camarillo State Mental Hospital, a state-run facility that catered to autistic and schizophrenic adults, as well as those seeking substance abuse treatment. During the later years of his enrollment at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts), Taylor worked the night shift at the facility, which allowed him ample time to draw these pencil sketches of the patients and staff, which are among his earliest artworks. The “Camarillo Drawings” show an artist trying out multiple styles of figuration—some are realist, while others are surreal, collaged, or scrambled with handwriting. The observation of physical and psychical states that Taylor practiced at Camarillo would greatly influence the paintings he began to make at CalArts, and would become a hallmark of his work in general.