Nick Turner is an American artist and photographer known for his arresting, truthful and boundary-breaking body of work. Turner was born in Boston in 1983. He was raised in the countryside of Maine where he was home-schooled until the age of fifteen, when he moved to the South of France. There, he attended a French high school before moving to Toulouse, where he passed his international baccalaureate. Immediately after receiving his diploma, Turner moved to Paris. He relocated to his current home of New York City to attend the Parsons School of Design, where he received a bachelor’s degree in Illustration.
It was during his school years that Turner devoted himself fully to his art, though he experienced a long and debilitating depression during his senior year that threatened to stall his career indefinitely. His work ended up being the therapy that brought him back to waking life. By chance, he met the prominent photographer Francois Rousseau while he was working on the book, "Atelier," based on Patrick Grainville's 1998 novel L'Atelier du Peintre. Rousseau cast Turner as a featured character in his new photo drama. Playing a tortured artist, the role was a natural fit for Turner, and Rousseau became a mentor to the burgeoning artist.
Turner has long been fascinated and inspired by human nature, our varying motivations and desires. His work continues to be emotionally-based, as he describes it, inspired by natural beauty, dreams and psychology. "To me, art is very emotional," Turner explains. "I just want to touch people. I want them to feel something."
In his latest project — entitled “Raw Beauty” — Turner aims to capture the visceral, fearless and cinematic quality of two of nature’s most captivating creations — women and horses. “Women and horses share a similar kind of beauty, power and sensitivity,” he says. “Each possesses a rare nobility — a timeless elegance, completely void of ego and pride."
While “Raw Beauty” represents a sampling of Turner’s foray into photography, abstractionism and mixed media, it also serves as the foundation for a larger literary work that will culminate in Europe later this year. The search for raw beauty is not just constant creative inspiration for this acclaimed artist, but a deeper social commentary on how Turner sees the world.
It was during his school years that Turner devoted himself fully to his art, though he experienced a long and debilitating depression during his senior year that threatened to stall his career indefinitely. His work ended up being the therapy that brought him back to waking life. By chance, he met the prominent photographer Francois Rousseau while he was working on the book, "Atelier," based on Patrick Grainville's 1998 novel L'Atelier du Peintre. Rousseau cast Turner as a featured character in his new photo drama. Playing a tortured artist, the role was a natural fit for Turner, and Rousseau became a mentor to the burgeoning artist.
Turner has long been fascinated and inspired by human nature, our varying motivations and desires. His work continues to be emotionally-based, as he describes it, inspired by natural beauty, dreams and psychology. "To me, art is very emotional," Turner explains. "I just want to touch people. I want them to feel something."
In his latest project — entitled “Raw Beauty” — Turner aims to capture the visceral, fearless and cinematic quality of two of nature’s most captivating creations — women and horses. “Women and horses share a similar kind of beauty, power and sensitivity,” he says. “Each possesses a rare nobility — a timeless elegance, completely void of ego and pride."
While “Raw Beauty” represents a sampling of Turner’s foray into photography, abstractionism and mixed media, it also serves as the foundation for a larger literary work that will culminate in Europe later this year. The search for raw beauty is not just constant creative inspiration for this acclaimed artist, but a deeper social commentary on how Turner sees the world.
