Surreal ambiguity, haunting faces, otherworldly hybrid characters, and the mix of familiar with the menace; an unsettling mood and an irreproachable painterly technique describe the fascinating digital art of Maggie Taylor.

The Florida based artist began her career as a still-life photographer after studying philosophy at Yale and photography at the University of Florida. In 1996 she started to use computer techniques to create her imaginary worlds and fell in love with the result. Maggie says she is forever bound to her parallel universe: “Making images for me is a way of life. I can't imagine not doing it. I guess in terms of what motivates me, the best answer would be, if I don't make images I'm unhappy."

Starting point and inspiring source for Taylor's digital photo collages are old photographs (19th century old, even), postcards and vintage objects that she finds in flea markets or on eBay. After scanning them Maggie uses Adobe Photoshop software to combine with her own pictures producing unique, disturbing, beautiful images.

Not just imagery but sequences from a quiet story as there is always an element of uncertainty, of drama that elevates the result from simple illustration to narrative. The painterly technique without visible layers and the choice of printing on matt surface paper with a slight texture make Maggie Taylor’s art works look more like paintings rather than digital photo collages.

Her work is published in books: Adobe Photoshop Master Class: Maggie Taylor’s Landscape of Dreams (2005) which “offers a close and richly illustrated examination of Taylor's practice, tracing her images from inspiration through execution”, Solutions Beginning with A (2007) and Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (2008), Modernbook Editions; exhibited in one-person shows throughout the world; part of private and public collection including The Fogg Art Museum of Harvard University, Cambridge, US, Fox Talbot Museum, Lacock Abbey, UK, PaciArte, Brescia, Italy and The Museum of Photography, Seoul, Korea.

The Herald, 2006, by Maggie Taylor

It's always tea time, 2006, by Maggie Taylor

Garden, 2005, by Maggie Taylor

Woman with a stone skirt, 2005, by Maggie Taylor

Moth Dancer, 2004, by Maggie Taylor

Girl in a bee dress, 2004, by Maggie Taylor

Woman who loves fish, 2003, by Maggie Taylor

Distracted cats, 2003, by Maggie Taylor

Dog with stick, 2002, by Maggie Taylor

Southern gothic, 2001, by Maggie Taylor

Night garden, 2000, by Maggie Taylor

Late, 2000, by Maggie Taylor

Bird girls by the sea, 1999, by Maggie Taylor