Public Speaking

I offer talks, panels, and interactive workshops tailored to different audiences, from artists and creatives to those working in care, education, and end-of-life spaces.

Formats

Conference Talks

Engaging, research-based talks that blend storytelling, theory, and lived experience.

Panel Discussions

Contributing to conversations on creativity, grief, and transformation.

Interactive Workshops

Hands-on sessions that combine discussion with creative making, allowing participants to explore transitional objects and artistic rituals.

Artist Talks & Studio Conversations

Speaking about my own creative practice and how I incorporate ritual, history, and transformation into my work.

Katie Taylor Public Speaker on Death and transitional object art

I offer speaking engagements that are thought-provoking, heartfelt, and deeply engaging. Whether for a conference, festival, creative retreat, or community gathering, I can tailor a talk or workshop to suit the needs of your audience.

What I offer

  • Transitional Objects & Memory – How we use objects to process grief, mark milestones, and connect to personal history.

    The Role of Ritual in Creativity – How artists, writers, and makers can develop rituals to sustain their practice and navigate change.

    Making as Meaning-Making – The power of craft, from knitting to sand-casting, in grounding and shaping our narratives.

  • Death work & Devotion – How art, storytelling, and ritual help us honour those we’ve lost.

    Creative Confidence in the Face of Uncertainty – Taking risks, embracing failure, and finding resilience through making.

    Grief & the Everyday – How grief lives in the objects we carry, the spaces we inhabit, and the creative acts we undertake.

  • What We Carry: The Stories in Our Pockets – Inspired by my PhD research on unidentified individuals and the personal objects that connected them to their past.

    The Art of Holding On & Letting Go – How objects help us process transitions, from marriage and divorce to relocation and loss.

    Textiles, Memory & Repair – Darning, knitting, and visible mending as acts of care and remembrance.

Previous speaking engagements

Brokenness Symposium – Oxford Brookes University

Death Design and Culture Conference – Falmouth University

The Max Planck Institute for Human Development – Berlin

Oxford Human Rights Festival

The Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford

Death and Culture IV – York St John’s University

Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology – School of Fashion and Textiles

Bradford University Archaeology and Forensic Science Department

The Association of Death and Society

CAA Conference – Panellist for “BIODEGRADABLE ART: TOWARDS REGENERATIVE AND CIRCULAR SYSTEMS”

Lincoln College, Oxford Conflict, and Identity Conference.

York University – Interdisciplinary Approaches to Corpse Work.

Guild of Embroiderers, Oxford Branch

Visiting Lecturer

Imperial College London – Medical Biosciences 3rd year – Creative reflection on Professional Practice module

Oxford Brookes University – Fine Art

Textiles Tutor - Open College of the Arts