My connection with this land is even stronger, if that’s possible! Something about “One Nest” brought that home. I love this valley’s seasons, wildlife and landscapes. Everything else goes away, and I’m thoroughly in the moment. – Kathryn Mapes Turner
Jackson Hole artist Kathryn Mapes Turner opens her new show, “All One Breath,” at Trio Fine Art with an artist’s reception Thursday, August 22nd, 5-8:00 pm. Turner will give a talk at 6:30 pm. “All One Breath” is on exhibition August 21 – September 7, 2013. Works from Turner’s ongoing “One Nest” collaboration with her brother Mark will be part of the exhibition.
“All One Breath” is about Turner feeling she’s in a new place. The feeling has been building, she says, but she’s reached a fresh understanding of how this world is connected. We are together; but a heightened view of collaboration is part of a universal ‘one.’
“The gallery is a form of collaboration between the three of us and with our clients and collectors. The project, “One Nest,” that I just completed with Mark, had a profound affect. Working with him proved the most exciting show I’ve done and the most artistically fulfilling,” says Turner. “I believe it was because I wasn’t alone in the process. There was synergy that fed my art and creativity, and it raised the bar in a way I couldn’t have achieved solo. Now my connection with this land is even stronger, if that’s possible! Something about “One Nest” brought that home. I love this valley’s seasons, wildlife and landscapes. Everything else goes away, and I’m thoroughly in the moment.”
Turner’s new work also reflects the mentor-mentee relationship she enjoys with Michigan artist John Felsing. Felsing does not “teach” Turner painting in a technical way; rather he has encouraged her to take risks with her paintings—and that influence is apparent in Turner’s recent work.
“I’ve been drawn to more tonal landscapes and interpretive work. It’s more about a spiritual approach and risk. I’ve learned to look more at other artists’ works, contemporary and historic. I connected more deeply with the continuum of the world art movement. My work responds to all this; it’s “all one breath,” says Turner.
For Turner art is never a solitary pursuit, even when she paints alone. Her involvement with the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters and Grand Teton Association underscored that fact; artists worked side by side while remaining in their own creative space. It’s another form of being connected, says the artist. Everyone benefits as artists, and so does the land.
This year Turner has shared and utilized her artistic gifts with the Grand Teton Association,Teton Raptor Center, and most recently with the Jackson Hole Land Trust’s “View 22” as a way of supporting conservation efforts. As a founding artist member of Trio Fine Art, the Rocky Mountain Plein Air Artists and the Jackson Hole Art Association, she is an integral member of the arts community.
Turner was amazed at how adding art to her brother’s beautiful building transformed an already stunning space. The project became a home, a place people wanted to remain in.
“My brother knew exactly what he wanted for the house, and he was clear with me about tone. We set each other in motion, worked together across the miles. I did part of the work here, and when I arrived back east I responded to the space,” Turner explains. “For a month I worked in the space, and it was miraculous. I brought what feeds me in Jackson to D.C., dug deep and produced the rest of the work. The work fit so well it seemed as if nobody wanted to part the art from the house. And because of the very high ceilings and windows I began working in a completely different scale!” Turner currently has two large-scale paintings of aspens on exhibit at Trio.
“All One Breath” brings into view Turner’s artistic evolution, collaborations, gallery partnerships, working with someone very close to her heart, mentorship, risk—-and artists who came before her. It all merges with the land where Turner lives and breathes.
“I’m aware what a blessing it is to be here, having a seamless connection with nature and being a part of our dynamic arts community. We’re all enriched, and I’m humbled as an artist to be in the midst. I’m compelled to make art that matters, making art that should be in people’s homes, and causes someone to stop and consider, wonder, or be inspired,” says Turner. “Being an artist connects to everything, but being more aware makes everything stronger, fruitful and exciting!” www.triofineart.com www.turnerfineart.com
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SHIFT Speaks hosts an informal chat with Jackson Hole’s John Turner, who will speak about “conservation as conservative wisdom” on Tuesday, August 20, 2013, 7:00 p.m. at the National Museum of Wildlife Art. The event is free and open to the public.
SHIFT describes itself as “a speaker series featuring notable leaders and cultural figures with ties to Jackson Hole. The series, held July through September 2013, is the run-up to the first SHIFT Festival in October and will engage the local community in shaping what the SHIFT Festival could and should become.” Want to learn more? Visit their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Shiftjh
Tammy Christel 
