Anna Turner was born in Hertfordshire but moved to Leeds in her early twenties, where she studied for a BA in Contemporary Art Practice at Leeds Arts University. In 2023 she completed an MA in Fine Art at Falmouth University in Cornwall. Her work is abstract and covers painting, installation and film. Principally involved in pure abstraction utilising repetition, contrast and harmonies. She has also recently been exploring walking as art practice. The work here is rooted in pure form and although minimal is not reductive, not started from something more complex.
The artist: My work is often made with the intention of creating a non-digital space of clarity, refinement and minimal form. Creating balance without symmetry using the various weights and intensity of colour. Flat areas of colour marking out boundaries on a surface, whether that surface is found wood, linen or plywood. I create hard-edged paintings that are rooted in pure form. Flat areas of colour are rimmed by a hard, clean edge. Forms are independent of any basis in reality and have no symbolic meaning. They are autonomous shapes, sufficient in themselves as shapes. Vibrant solid colours are mixed with soft pastel shades, mixing matt and gloss finishes. My painting ‘Kazimierz’ has a rigid structure, mixing varnish, bare wood and paint. I also aimed to give the edges of this plywood painting an active role, so it can’t be viewed as a whole from a single angle. The piece reveals itself gradually as a viewer moves around it. Hard-edge painting is known for its economy of form, fullness of colour and smooth surface planes. Although I work hard to create a meticulous finish to these works with a build up of layers using tape and mediums, the subtle ridges this technique achieves is evidence of their hand-made nature. These are not digital productions they are carefully constructed leaving little to chance. They are not reductions but pure abstraction created slowly layer by layer.