Ray Turner, an interpretive artist of landscapes and portraiture, refers to the works he is currently making as “Head Paintings” When he began this series, he seized this exacting format with his customary scope of detail and sweeping brushwork. His investigation of this genre’s potential for permutation and variation is comprised of the sitter’s image rendered with tonal washes of oil on glass. HIs choice of this fragile material juxtaposed with his tactile and plush application of paint makes for a resonant, seductive surface. For Turner, the paint is always the most important element, and his customarily striking use of color is fully evident here. Traditionally in portrait painting, color is the equivalent for emotion and mood, providing its visual vocabulary. These works are rendered with a broad spectrum of tints, with interchangeable store sample swatches as background, fanning out a wide range of color values. Capturing a likeness is not Turner’s particular intention, but rather a contemplation and exploration defining the issues of art and artifice.
