Kiki Elice Turner

Artist Bio:

Kiki Elice Turner is a Seattle, Washington-based painter, clothing designer, wife, and mother of 3. She was born in Pullman, Washington, and moved to New York City after graduating from Renton High school to study fashion design. While attending Parson School of Design, Kiki honed her skills by regularly attending museums, exhibits, and galleries in Brooklyn and Manhattan. Kiki enjoyed visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art the most. She would study the figurative art and sculptures that impact her paintings today. Kiki graduated with her BFA in Fashion Design from Parsons School of Design in 2008 and won the prestigious Golden Thimble award presented by DKNY; after which, Kiki was selected to assist in curating shows for a local gallery and was chosen to present her senior collection at the exclusive NYC Hyatt Show. Kiki has designed clothing collections for such brands as Olive Juice Children’s wear and many other boutique brands. In 2014 Kiki shifted her focus from fashion design to painting; shortly after, Kiki began exhibiting her work in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Yonkers, and now in her hometown, Seattle. She is thrilled to be back in Seattle, Washington, where she finds constant inspiration from the plants, animals, and nature that she grew up with and helped shape her into the multi-talented artist she is today.

Artist Highlight:

My work is an extension of me, literally. In my past works, I would solicit my friends for nude photos and direct them on how to pose. Now I use myself as a reference. I set up a tripod in my bathroom and play with different seated and standing poses. Once I’m ready to paint, I change a few things to give my girls their identity. I then refer to my collection of photos and screenshots that I’ve taken that I find inspiring. It could be something as simple as a leaf or a wedding gown I saw on Pinterest.

I work by first building layers of texture on the canvas. I like the polarity of the soft feminine form with the rugged textured canvas. It gives another aspect to my work that makes you want to look at it and touch it. My painting process is rapid, as if I’m sketching an idea, using a thick black holding line, and painting in bold colors like I’m using a crayon in a coloring book. I don’t want to take it too seriously; it’s essential that I’m painting for myself and that I’m painting for fun. My fashion illustration teacher Mr. Broadway used to scold me for using thick holding lines because it would smear. Now I love that the holding line bleeds a little or that my lines aren’t smooth. I celebrate my mistakes, and l allow myself to be free and almost childlike when painting, which is nearly the opposite of how I worked as a clothing designer.

I often use dark skin tones on my girls because, in a way, I want to put the dark-skinned woman on a pedestal. Dark-skinned women are often ignored, so this is my way of celebrating them/her.  When people see my work, I want them to see femininity, a different approach to fashion design and nudity, and exoticism in the black woman.