One of my favorite collaborations in the last couple of years is with my friend John White. He is a musician and songwriter, and I also know him to be a huge fan of visual art. A prolific artist in the Reno community, producing several albums on his own throughout his career, I was so honored when he asked me to do the cover art for a few of his singles under his band, The John Whites. The project was to make three vignettes illustrating different points of a story following a romantic relationship. This is the first time that I'm sharing the work here all at once.
The first two pieces were John's vision, I just brought the visuals to it. The third pieces was where I had free reign to make something that was my own interpretation of the music. I invite you to take a look and a listen to what we were able to do within our respective crafts.
Oil on wood panel. Traci L. Turner
The first in this mini-series was for the song "Love" from the album Music, Magic, Mischief, Mayhem. It depicts a pivotal moment in this relationship with one person appealing to the other to rekindle the connection. Having been on the receiving end of this scenario personally, I certainly could relate to the woman in the painting and I paid special attention to figuring out the expression to give her. Though her face is turned away and showing resistance, her arm is extended toward the man, almost touching. I thought about the hesitation and indecision of a moment like that. When one still feels deeply connected to someone who may have hurt them, and then that person shows intentions to re-enter your life...the emotions are complicated. I definitely had a particular attachment to this piece because it really hit home. I never would've been brave enough on my own to attempt to put a visual to that feeling, so I appreciate being tasked to do it through this collaboration with John.
Oil on wood panel. Traci L. Turner.
The second piece that was commissioned to me was for the single "Our Love" from the aforementioned album. This vignette was meant to depict the couple reconciling the relationship. So yup, he got that ol' thang back. I think this piece was the hardest one because John had a specific vision with different elements that he wanted me to include. It was difficult for me to come up with an image that put it all together in a way that was aesthetically pleasing and held a narrative. I was extremely relieved when we were able to agree on something. For me, this piece is about harmony, togetherness, sacredness and being lost in an intimate moment with someone special. Besides the imagery, which was almost solely directed by John, I wanted to be aware of how to use color to emphasize the intended reaction from the viewer. I decided to go with bright, complimentary colors, using the blues and whites to hint at the skies or heaven.
Oil, silver and copper leaf on wood panel. Traci L. Turner
The final piece in this trilogy is a single for an upcoming album by The John Whites. The single is called "Come With Me," and it is about sexual relations. With this piece I was tasked with creating a painting based off of my own interpretation of the song. It really didn't take long for me to come up with an image, surprisingly! Of course the act of sex is already intense and intimate on its own, but I wanted to do something that explained the intimacy of sex that was outside of the act itself. Two people, vulnerable and nude with each other in a mutual connection was the thought that I couldn't get away from when thinking of the song. The fluid that is shown in the piece was originally supposed to be blood, but I decided to tone it down to be something that represented different bodily fluid instead. Ultimately I thought that the blood was too intense for the song. My mind always goes to blood though, especially when depicting a connection between two people, because I'm fascinated by the idea of being so exposed and entangled with someone that you actually share a lifeforce. Perhaps that's a topic to be explored in a different blog post. At any rate, sharing bodily fluids and being in your most natural and vulnerable state with someone is really what I wanted to share. Nothing revolutionary at all, but it really doesn't have to be. A lot of us know what that's like. It's such a simple and universal concept that I didn't think needed to be framed in an esoteric way.
This collaboration with John White was the first time that I ever did anything like that! For some reason I didn't think much about how I could use my skills to illustrate or coincide with someone else's idea or work. Matching the visuals to the music was a challenge that proved to be beneficial for me because it pushed me to think more about how to tell a story in my work. It also challenged me to think about how to make more than one figure relate to each other. Normally I focus on just one figure in my pieces, so I appreciate that I now have some paintings that feel like a bit of an expansion upon the humanistic ideas that I already use in my work.
Now that you've checked out the visuals, go listen to the music! Visit The John Whites' website and purchase the music wherever you prefer to hear your tunes.
My eyes must have been too honest, for you were overwhelmed.If I screenshot you my heart would you then receive the message?Tag me in a picture so I know it's real...Recently I started a mini-series called InstaLove that will make its debut at my next solo show this coming June. As a way to speak on some of the impersonal aspects I've noticed in the current dating landscape, I decided to paint Instagram icon parodies that could possibly represent aspects of our love lives. Of course, some of my own personal feelings or experience is sprinkled in.It seems that in the dating realm, so much of our personal interactions happen in the form of online communication. It can be a dangerous thing in that we can read nothing into it, or we completely over-analyze and personalize it. However, whether we'd like to admit it or not, a lot of us have become quite satisfied with this sort of distant connectivity in our social lives. We're comfortable using apps, memes, emojis and reposts to express ourselves or connect with others. Oftentimes it's not even useful or entertaining information, only filler. We're also in a time where it's common that serious conversations, which should probably happen in-person or at least in a phone call, get addressed in texting exchanges. Getting someone's attention or showing interest can now be measured with a "like" tally or a view counter, and even that can make some people squirm. Because it MEANS something. When we're presented with actual face-to-face, voice-to-voice interactions offline, sometimes things get tricky. Can you believe that even a casual coffee date can now bring an unreasonable wave of anxiety? When the barrier of a screen and keypad has been stripped, that leaves one wide open to be in the moment, to make mistakes, to actually feel. PASS. No wonder "ghosting" is as common as it is now. And we've all been there in some form.I started thinking about how one could convey an honest feeling or message as instantly as we can convey empty ones, in regards to love/romance. Would it make the message more palatable, and would we respond to it? Using the Instagram "Like" icon as the backdrop, as well as a little bit of humor, I try to turn this pared down form of communication on its head by inviting the viewer to go a bit deeper. That perhaps even this bite-sized image that's essentially a shallow gesture in its original form (let's be real), could inspire reactions beyond validation and jealousy. What you see above is about half of this mini-series, the official roll-out is to come in a couple of months.Would love to know your thoughts in the comments.