Lesley Turner
Bedrock III, 2024
Linen cloth, earth pigments, cotton thread 13" h x 13" w x 2" d
Vancouver Island, the rock I live on was scraped bare by moving ice during the last glacial age. A succession of plant and animal life built up the soil enabling us to live on this once bare rock. Linen cloth was placed on a granite bedrock boulder and painted with earth pigment. Responsive stitching highlights the marks left on the cloth.
Lesley Turner
Bedrock I, 2024
Linen cloth, earth pigments, cotton thread 17" h x 211/2" w
Vancouver Island, the rock I live on was scraped bare by moving ice during the last glacial age. A succession of plant and animal life built up the soil enabling us to live on this once bare rock. Linen cloth was placed on a granite bedrock boulder and painted with earth pigment. Responsive stitching highlights the marks left on the cloth.
Lesley Turner
The Snow Man, 2024
Fabric: cotton, wool, polyester. Thread: cotton, polyester, polyfilling, ink, glue, webbing, bark, wire, beads 31" h x 52" w x 1" d
This artist’s origin story is about meeting a Snow Man for the first time. Through cooperation, we became friends.
Lesley Turner
The Rooster, 2024
Fabric: cotton, hemp, polyester. Thread: cotton, polyester. Beads, feathers, glue, poly filling, webbing, wood, acrylic paint 22' h x 39" w x 1.5" d
This artist's origin story is about as a 2 year old my relationship with a rooster. I thought he looked beautiful but I was afraid of him. He pecked at me to make me stay with his flock of hens. I had to work out ways to get past him. In this story, my father unknowingly came to my rescue.
Lesley Turner
Winter Under the Maple Tree, 2024
Vintage crocheted bedspread, wool, silk, linen, cotton yarns 80" h x 65" w x 2" w
Creating art is my way of focusing on our bond with the natural world. In the sacrificial domestic linens of my Under the Maple series, I share the essence of a majestic Big Leaf Maple I see from my studio. This living artwork keeps me rooted in the ever-changing Pacific NW rainforest, where each season tells its story.
Lesley Turner
Fall Under the Maple Tree, 2023
Rayon table cloth, earth pigments, polyester and silk organza, cotton and polyester thread 82" h x 67" w x 0.5" d
Creating art is my way of focusing on our bond with the natural world. In the sacrificial domestic linens of my Under the Maple series, I share the essence of a majestic Big Leaf Maple I see from my studio. This living artwork keeps me rooted in the ever-changing Pacific NW rainforest, where each season tells its story.
Lesley Turner
Summer under the Maple Tree, 2023
Vintage cotton bedsheet, fabric paint, cotton threads 82" h x 71" w x 1" d
As an artist, I find inspiration in the everyday moments that often go unnoticed. The memory of being under the maple tree at the height of summer is one such moment. The warmth of the sun on my skin, the rustling of the leaves, and the sight of them fluttering in the gentle breeze all combine to create a sensory experience that connects me to the seasons and the cycle of life. Through my art, I hope to capture the essence of this moment and share it with others, allowing them to experience the same joy and tranquillity that I did. Creating art is my way of focusing on our bond with the natural world. In the sacrificial domestic linens of my Under the Maple series, I share the essence of a majestic Big Leaf Maple I see from my studio. This living artwork keeps me rooted in the ever-changing Pacific NW rainforest, where each season tells its story.
Lesley Turner
Nurture Mandala, 2022
Vintage wool blankets, worn garments, vintage cotton bedsheet 36" x 36"
For the well-being of our society, we need to restore expressions of honor toward mothers. Being a mother and motherhood are the most essential roles in our society because they are life-giving and life-sustaining. We all have mothers and the right to experience being mothered to enable us to grow into fully developed adults. A person suffers a profound, deep loss if they have not been mothered after going through the birth process. I want to inform current and future mothers of the vital role they have taken on. The mother-child bond is the strongest bond humans are capable of, yet this relationship is rarely seen, let alone honored, in our society’s creative expression. It is time for society to return to recognizing that strong mother-child bonds and motherly love are essential for human survival. Humans can not survive without motherly love and care.
Lesley Turner
Birth Mandala, 2022
Vintage wool blankets, worn garments, cotton bedsheet 36" x 36"
We are all connected by our birth experience. We all have mothers who share the life-giving birth experience. Yet in all our modern-day creative expressions birth is rarely celebrated as the source of our continued existence. In prehistory societies, symbols served to celebrate the arrival of new life. Since then, largely because of the dominance of patriarchal societies the universal experience of birth has been repressed, medicalized, and removed from mothers’ control. There needs to be a shift in the way we view the birth process. The doctor doesn’t ‘deliver’ the new life as if emptying a vessel carrying an object. It is the mother who gives life to a new human. She gives birth. As we move towards a more egalitarian and compassionate societal view women can reclaim their empowering birthing experiences for the betterment of their children and society’s well-being.
Lesley Turner
Pregnancy Mandala, 2022
Vintage wool blankets, worn garments, vintage cotton bedsheet 36" x 36"
Prehistory’s ancient reproduction symbols fell out of favor in many societies' cultural expressions. With the shift away from patriarchal views on life it is time to reacquaint ourselves with these still powerful symbols and to develop a new collection to enable us to honor those who give us new life.
