The artistic world of Henry Turner
Tucked away on a lifestyle block in West Melton, 21-year-old artist Henry Turner creates fantastical paintings, drawings and sculptures, as well as books of his art. His work is filled with surreal images inspired by nature, the Canterbury Plains and mythology. For him, art isn’t a career choice; it’s fundamental to who he is.
ON THE BOOKSHELF IN HENRY TURNER’S LOUNGE, I spot copies of his latest book, Fever. The book is a weighty, visually stunning tome. Along with reproductions of his paintings, it contains essays by Nick Harte, Jane Wallace and Susana Persad. It was published to accompany his exhibition at City Art Depot in November 2020 of 17 of the paintings he produced during lockdown. Creating such books is a passion for Henry, who has released one for his last two solo exhibitions. ‘I’ve done three books, but the first one hardly anyone saw. The second book was for my Deep Gold show. I wrote a narrative to go alongside that body of work. This book, Fever, is the first in which I’ve commissioned writing from other people as well as including my own essays.’
Despite his youth, Henry is an old hand at exhibiting. He’s taken part in group shows and has had four solo events. He agreed with me that producing a book, as well as hanging an exhibition, created additional stress. The book’s delivery timing was nail-biting; six boxes arriving from the printer with only a few hours to spare before the show opened. He acknowledges the books are ‘a totally silly proposition’, but is adamant they are as vital to him as the exhibitions. ‘I’m a book addict. I love paper and want to make books until I die. They’re a very important part of my art. Creating a book to accompany the show gives me a print deadline, which helps me work. Often people who buy a painting also buy a copy of the book. Most of my book sales come from word of mouth, but I’m delighted Scorpio Books in Christchurch has agreed to stock it.’
Although Henry lives and breathes art, he dislikes being labelled an artist. ‘I question the term artist. I love the term general practitioner.’ During the interview, I discover he has equally strong views on many subjects. He does not paint with blue, and despite creating numerous landscapes, he has an aversion to painting outdoors. ‘I got tired of painting en plein air when I was seven. The Impressionists must have been terribly enthusiastic. It’s a nightmare: all that wind and the sun’s too hot. And then there’s the wretched easel.’
Reference for his work often comes from photographs he takes on his cellphone. ‘I confess I’m very enthusiastic [about the phone’s capabilities]. I can carry around 40,000 photos in my pocket and about 12,000 songs and 200 audiobooks. I don’t mess around with exposures or anything. It’s entirely casual; the pictures are more of an aid to memory.’
At his parents’ lifestyle property, Henry’s studio is set amidst beautiful gardens, and therefore it’s no wonder trees and plants feature heavily in his work. The Canterbury Plains have also been a significant influence. ‘Much of my latest work was a response to this landscape which is perfectly flat, but wiped clean of construct.’
His studio is remote, but the isolation created by the 2020 lockdown proved to be particularly constructive for Henry, who produced 30 paintings. ‘Lockdown was quite scary; a
gothic swoop of darkness, which I vicariously enjoyed, but was very terrified by at the same time. The conditions the lockdown created definitely affected my painting. I worked all the time, long into the night, with a sort of intensity. My practice, I’ve come to realise, is often focused around going to great lengths to manifest a crazy idea I have at two in the morning.’
Art has always been important to Henry. He claims he had the same intensity as a preschooler when he worked with Play-Doh. ‘As far as I can remember, I had exactly the same mindset back then, with the same sort of drive.’ He quotes writer Toni Morrison: ‘If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it,’ which he says makes ‘perfect sense’ to him. ‘My painting changes drastically all the time. I haven’t got a style. I get bored so quickly. My work is defined by whatever makes me hungry.’
Henry was a pupil at Burnside High School in Christchurch and has subsequently studied art history and classics at tertiary level. He decided against following the conventional route of studying for a Bachelor of Fine Arts as he had already exhibited in many shows and had won several art prizes – first place plus numerous other prizes over the years at Darfield Art Week. In 2017, he won the printmaking prize at the National Youth Art Award and he has also been nominated for the National Contemporary Art Award.
One of the major influences in Henry’s earlier work was his journey to the Subantarctic Islands. In 2013, he went as an Enderby Trust Scholar on an 18-day trip to the Auckland Islands, the Snares, Macquarie, Campbell and Antipodes islands as well as the Bounties and the Chathams. The journey allowed him to study the unusual geographic forms of the area and it strengthened his love of birds and his passion for conservation.
His 2019 Deep Gold exhibition contained paintings inspired by his voyage. He envisioned a fictional
‘My practice is often focused around going to great lengths to manifest a crazy idea I have at two in the morning.’
Subantarctic Island imbued with the colours from the science fiction film Flash Gordon. ‘I was at a meeting in the Astro Lounge with friends, and this film was on mute inside. There was a sort of German-ish romantic business going on, with epic storms and strange use of colour. My entire body of work, even the narrative, was perfectly formed in my mind in about five seconds. The next day I made an appointment with the gallery and said I want to do this and this. I laid it out very precisely.’
Over the years, Henry has produced sculpture, films and dabbled in photography. He loves experimenting with different disciplines. ‘There have never been so many tools available to artists. If da Vinci were alive today, he’d be into 3D printing or creating virtual reality and brimming with glee.’
The year 2021 promises to be busy, with 13 of Henry’s Fever paintings opening at the Brett McDowell Gallery in Dunedin. A series of drawings about Heaven will be shown at the Oxford Gallery, and he plans to work on sculpture later in the year.
Henry acknowledges his work isn’t to everyone’s taste and dislikes marketing his work, preferring to sell through galleries rather than his website. He is cultivating a following, with some people buying a painting at each of his shows. He calls these supporters ‘the blessed of the Earth’.
When asked if he sees himself continuing as a full-time artist, Henry nods. ‘There’s not very much I’m sure of, but whatever happens, I will still make art. If I were living in a tent, I’d draw in the dust. I must do it. If I don’t, I feel physically ill. Art is like eating or breathing to me. It’s just a question of being able to make it work.’
‘There’s not very much I’m sure of, but whatever happens, I will still make art.’