Vadis Turner "Dowry"
Lyons Wier Gallery
This event has ended.
As handmade objects are passed down through time, they become increasingly precious and culturally relevant. Turner’s work engages in the transformative legacy of object to heirloom to historical artifact. Ultimately, the work functions as a portrait of the artist, her origins and her time(s).
Re-imagining traditional handicrafts made by women, Turner has synthesized gender roles and rites of passage to create a series of contemporary heirlooms that illustrate the values of her generation. This body of work comprises her ‘dowry’, a material and cultural measure of her worth as a woman and as an artist.
Turner's “Dowry” includes a site-specific installation, “Reception”, that lavishly celebrates and politely ignores the conventions of marriage, specifically consummation.
Other heirlooms comprising her “Dowry” are in the form of Fabergé-like eggs wrapped with human hair, bodily organs constructed with discarded jewelry and sex swings made with antique quilts and a wedding dress.
Traditionally exchanged for marital advancement, Turner’s “Dowry” will be traded for currency and/or professional gain.
Media
Schedule
from April 24, 2009 to May 23, 2009
Opening Reception on 2009-04-24 from 18:00 to 21:00