52 x 28 x 12
Laura Nelson, along with her son, L.D., were arrested after an incident involving a stolen cow, an incident that escalated. After their arrest, an enraged mob of over forty white men broke them out of jail and lynched them from a bridge over the North Carolina River near Okemah, Oklahoma, on May 25, 1911. Both were repeatedly raped prior to the lynching. The son was photographed lynched from the bridge with his pants hanging around his feet. Laura’s son was 12 years old.
Laura’s and her son’s photographs are the only ones we have today of a lynched woman and child although nearly all lynchings of the estimated 4,000 black men and over 200 women and children were photographed and printed as postcards. These postcards were sent around our fair country .....to the friends and relatives of the rapists and murderers and from the townspeople, ….as was customary after a lynching. One mob member and Klansman was named Charley Guthrie. Charley is the father of Woody Guthrie and the grandfather of Arlo Guthrie. (Ironically, Woody’s “This Land is your Land” and Arlo’s “City of New Orleans” are two of my all time favorite patriotic folk songs.)
In the one remaining black and white photo of this travesty of a woman and her child being lynched I could make out the difference in hues of the polka dots on the fabric she used to make her dress. As a textile artist, I recreated them individually in her honor. She also, as I could discern from the photo, made slippers or shoe tops to match her dress.
I think that was the final spear piercing my already broken heart.
Recipient of the
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE from juror Sue Coe
(secondary to Best of Show)
October through December, 2019
Reece Museum, Johnson City, Tennessee
FL3TCH3R Exhibit: Socially and Politically Engaged Art
Juried Exhibit "Pain, Process and Promise, Alliance for the Arts, Ft Myers, FL
Artists Live interview with Q and A session, August, 11, 2020
National Association of Women Artists' 131st Annual Exhibit
all canvas prints numbered and signed by artist
11 x 14 gallery wrapped canvas print 1/100
$70 plus shipping
16 x 20 standard canvas print 1/75
$135 plus shipping
18 x 24 standard canvas print 1/5
$175 plus shipping
Larger sizes available, write for price quote
Piece statement mounted on back of canvas panel
Original work sold
CONTACT tab above
Reece Museum's
"FL3TCH3R: Socially and Politically Engaged Art"
Grand Central Library, Manhattan, New York City
"GRAND VISIONS: WE ARE HERE"
Exhibit: March 1 to September 4
Closing Reception September 4, 2020
"Vietnam to Very Fine People: Boogaloo Bois"
all canvas prints numbered and signed by artist
11 x 14 gallery wrapped canvas print 1/100
$70 plus shipping
16 x 20 standard canvas print 1/75
$135 plus shipping
18 x 24 standard canvas print 1/5
$175 plus shipping
Larger sizes available, write for price quote
Piece statement mounted on back of canvas panel
Original work sold
CONTACT tab above
"Florida's Flooded Future"
By mid century, Florida's barrier islands will be awash and abandoned; low lying coastal and Everglade's areas will completely flood on a regular basis. We will lose our freshwater resources, our infrastructure, and see the increase of catastrophic storm surges.
Are we ready?
"Wounds the Size of Oranges"
A white supremacist, after being openly welcomed to a Bible study at Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, SC, killed 9 innocents. The relatives of those slain inside the historic African American church spoke directly to the accused gunman at his first court appearance. They did not turn to anger. Instead, they offered him forgiveness.
I ponder their collective spirit of Forgiving-ness in wonder.
The birds represent the 9 victims, their names are stitched into the upper left corner
Alliance for the Arts Members Exhibit "Gravity of Gratitude"
Ft Myers, Florida open to visitors
Virtual Reception November 6, 6-7 pm
"Primary Suffragists, Secondary Recognition"
An international exhibit in its 8th year, this year juried by Carlton Wilkinson, internationally known for his photography of the African Diaspora.
Open for visitors October 5 to December 11, 2020 at the Reece Museum in
Johnson City, TN, with a Virtual Reception, to be announced soon.
131st Annual Exhibition
National Association of Women Artists (NAWA)
October 1 through December 30, 2020
Online reception link soon
www.thenawa.org
"FORGIVING-NESS"
Patricia at Reece Museum, Johnson City, TN December 2019
My Live interview on August 11 with Ehren Gerhard, Gallery Director for the Ft Myers Alliance for the Arts was an amazing experience and I thank ALL the many, many attendees, their VERY thoughtful questions and comments and Ehren for being both producer and interviewer !
I am editing the interview and will present a link to U-Tube very soon !
patricia turner art
"Laura Got Lynched From the Bridge"
“Their exit wounds were the size of oranges”.
The size of oranges. Emergency room doctors describe their horror and helplessness when addressing the immense damage done to our children by the bullets from an AR-15 semi-automatic weapon, damage that is impossible to treat successfully. First responders are unable to stem the rivers of blood, physicians are unable to repair the massive tissue and organ disintegration. The shooter does not even have to make the effort to aim, once his target is hit it is a virtual death sentence. As one ER doctor said “They had no fighting chance at life”.
How does an artist convey her visceral reaction to this horrific imagery? And how does she plead with responsible gun owners to end this nightmare of private ownership of weapons that are designed for war? And how do we end the death grip of the NRA?
I wish I knew. #NEVERAGAIN
Honoring the heroic Black Suffragists in "secondary" colors
Orange panel
Sarah Redmond Parker
Mary Ann Shadd Cary
Charlotte "Lottie" Rollin
Purple panel
Ida b. Wells
Green panel
Soujourner Truth
Hallie Quinn Brown
Mary Charch Terrell
Faces painted with thread onto silk organza and mounted on custom acrylic support that hangs 5" from wall. Piece measures 25 x 25" and is so light it moves with the slightest air, i.e. from an air duct.
Foosaner Museum in Melbourne, Florida
EXHIBIT EXTENDED UNTIL JULY 25 !!!!!
Click here for 2 minute video
made by museum of my work
click here for VIDEO of FLAG Exhibit