Vadis Turner has synthesized the practice of painting with feminist materials. Hand-dyed and up-cycled layers of domestic textiles are translated into brushstrokes. Marks are hand sewn onto woven foundations, canvas or fixed in resin. Turner’s three-dimensional works incorporate materials and mixtures generated by or relating to women. Her compositions often merge female characters with storied landscapes and contrasting elements, revealing the underbelly of the female archetype.
Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Turner received a BFA and MFA from Boston University and has exhibited her work internationally. Selected exhibitions include the Brooklyn Museum, New York; National Gallery, Prague; Andy Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh, PA and Islip Art Museum, East Islip, NY. Her work is in the permanent collections of the Brooklyn Museum of Art, 21C Museum, Tennessee State Museum, Kentucky Arts and Crafts Museum and the Egon Schiele Art Centrum.
In 2016 Turner was awarded the Joan Mitchell Painters and Sculptors Grant. She is currently preparing for a solo exhibition at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in 2017. Turner has a two-person museum show at The Carnegie Museum for Art & History in 2018. She is represented by Geary in NYC and Zeitgeist Gallery in Nashville, TN.