ABOUT THE ARTIST

Artist Statement

Most artists are somewhat reluctant to talk about their work and even more reluctant to talk about themselves. I’m no exception. I think the reason for this is because, whether or not we artists like to admit it, each of our works exposes at least some part of us to the world. Our conflicts, our concerns, and even our most private feelings sometimes find their way onto the canvas. Fortunately, for most of us, the urge to create outweighs the urge toward the safety of privacy. Furthermore, we as artists, don’t always know just how much of ourselves we’re parading before the world. And even for the bravest among us, that can be a frightening proposition. Therefore, it isn’t uncommon that the viewer of a work sees it far differently than does the artist that created it.  I believe that those different views are one of the joys of creating art. 

Somewhat isolated from much of the rest of the world, I grew up in a small New England town with a population of around 500 people.  I became involved in the arts and grew up with my eyes on art rather than on life. When I wasn’t dancing I was painting. I won my first art completion at 12 years of age with a charcoal drawing of my grandparents’ home.

By the time I entered college I was creating pen and ink drawings and watercolors of rural scenes. I also became involved in the social services - working with the mentally retarded, institutionalized mentally ill, old persons in nursing homes and the like.  I discovered ageism, racism, sexism, poverty, pollution, and a host of other unfortunate realities. I found out the meaning of the phrase “rude awakening” during my years of college.  My idealism, which had grown from a preoccupation with art, got broadsided by the realism of life, a realism for which I was virtually unprepared.

By the early 1980’s my personal painting style began to emerge.  My paintings and monotypes often combine surreal and figurative styles. I attempt to depict the dilemma of conscience, and confusion we each experience upon being confronted with life’s incongruities and conflicts that just don’t make sense. I frequently use the innocence and lightness of nature or the human form as a contrast to certain harsh realities.

After a short break from my paintings of urban life, and the political and social dilemmas in which we all find ourselves, I started to create several watercolor and gouache paintings, monotypes and hand painted etchings depicting groups of two. In my current series, I concentrate upon groups of two or couplings of images. In a world of E-romance, speed dating, and increasing isolation, this series of paintings, titled Couplings, seems straightforward and romantic. This series depicts a wide variety of couples: women & men, men & men, women & women, old & young, all in a dazzling array of environments. The contexts of the couples vary widely; as far-flung as our solar system, as immediate as an umbrella. The individual pieces depict a wide range of activities: an embrace, a mutual smile, a flirting glance in the other’s direction. As one views the work, the images reveal themselves, compounding their visual information, as one looks deeper. This depiction of diverse couples attempts to elicit a personal response, inviting the viewer to experience human intimacies and connections we all have felt and/or long to feel.

© 2010 by Li Turner