Title: Dog Mandala

Artist: Nita Turnage (deceased)

Medium: Oil

Dimensions: 45.5" x 45.5"

*Due to the size and/or fragility of this item, it is NOT available for shipping. It is Local Pick Up Only. If you are the winning bidder and are not in attendance to pick up your artwork the night of the event at the Four Seasons, artwork will be available for pick up from the Pine Street Shelter starting Friday, August 9th. Artwork will NOT be available to pick up before this (unless you are notified otherwise via email). All winning bidders will receive an email with more information once the auction has closed.

Donated by: Ann Haubrich

Artist Statement:

My artwork is an exploration in pattern, rhythm and ritual. I am fascinated by the way multiple individual elements or actions work together to create a greater whole; in turn acting as signs in the external world that deliver a universal symbolic message.

One example of this idea is the way in which hundreds of birds will flock together to create a unified fluid movement. In this instance one's perception shifts from individual bird to a vision of river across the sky.

As a student of the esoteric I am influenced by the ceremonial practices of various cultures, particularly the Hindu tradition which enlists ceremony, the chanting of mantras and the repetition of movement in order to achieve a transcendent state.

For inspiration I look at the works of Magdalena Abakanowicz, Janine Antoni, Andy Goldsworthy, Eva Hesse, and Ann Hamilton. All of these artists utilize some form of repetition or ritual to express their various concepts.

I work with a variety of materials and methods including sculpture, pottery, painting, installation and performance art; yet my approach to art making is consistent. I begin a piece by making a rough sketch as a general idea of what I want the finished art to look like. I then utilize mark-making, repetitive imagery or multiple object-making as a ritualistic process which gives way to a spontaneous development of the finished piece.

Pattern and repetition form the fundamental structure for the expression of life, and for my art as well. This is the language with which nature speaks. The act of repetition moves me beyond time and space. It is a reflective rite that allows me to discover my individual place in the pattern and my relationship to a larger reality.

Nita and her husband are co-owners of Muse Creative Painting and Design which specializes in design, murals, faux finishing and commissioned art, as well as co-founders of the riverside arts festival, Artica.