Kept Within the Bounds

'Kept Within the Bounds' was a multi-media installation exhibited in the Picture Gallery at the Foundling Museum in October 2016. It formed part of the solo exhibition Finding Foundlings, which concluded Taylor’s artist residency at the museum.

During the residency, Taylor facilitated workshops with 248 school children (aged 7–10 year olds) to examine and draw attention to the absent ‘voice’ of the historical foundling child within the museum’s curatorial narratives. Employing methods from performance practice, Taylor encouraged participants to construct a ‘foundling’ character through role-play before illustrating their imagined child.

The resulting paintings were subsequently integrated into the installation 'Kept Within the Bounds', which incorporated sound and mirrored the floor plan of the original Foundling Hospital. Taylor purposefully positioned the work within the Picture Gallery, directly beneath the portraits of the hospital’s male donors, to highlight the contrast between those commemorated and the children who had been forgotten.

Following the critique of representation in the Picture Gallery, 'Kept Within the Bounds' had notable impact, prompting a shift in the museum’s curatorial strategy. In 2017, the Museum secured Art Fund support to remove the portraits of the male governors that had dominated the Picture Gallery, leading to a rehanging of the space in 2018.

• https://rachelemilytaylor.co.uk/2022/01/...
• http://thisistomorrow.info/articles/rach...
• https://www.a-n.co.uk/events/artist-in-r...