My most recent work is now showing at The Lasting Dose Gallery along with fellow Reno artists Lisa Kurt and Kelly Ogilvie for a show called, Invincible Summer. While preparing for this show, I faced a string of external distractions. I worked through it by reminding myself of the commitment that I made with everyone else involved in the project and by also reminding myself that the hard-times were temporary, if not entirely all in my head. I think the theme of Invincible Summer seemed fitting for my situation because I spent the majority of the winter in almost a full retreat. It was a kind of "hibernation" in a sense because I had to focus intensely on myself and my art-related work inside and outside of the studio. I kept to myself a lot, observing almost everything around me offline and online, figuring out how I wanted to interpret the theme of our show, my next steps as an artist and then executing. It's been an extremely intense and emotional time for me over the last 5 to 6 months. However, I seem to have made it out of the first few humps and am starting to emerge again...a little bit. Hopefully I'm mentally and emotionally stronger, wiser, more aware and ready to engage the world again. We'll see how true that is in the coming weeks.For now, please check out what I think is my best work from the show and read more about this group art exhibition here. The work will be on-view through June 3rd. If you're interested in purchasing a painting, please contact Kelsey or Mike at lastingdosegallery@gmail.c
I Heart Dolphins
This painting was made for a group art exhibition where the theme was "animals." Frames were provided to each artist by the good folks from The Framery. The twist to this show is that all of the work is 6 inches or less. The choice of frame size was on a first-come, first-serve basis. Though I'm a bonafide cat-fan, I chose to highlight my love for dolphins with this piece. If I was the type of person to make a bucket list, to be best friends with a dolphin would definitely be in the top five!This painting is on-view at the Isles Teashop in Midtown Reno until the end of April. If you're interested in purchasing this 6"x6" painting, which comes already framed, please email me!: traci@tracilturner.com.
InstaLove
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.