KAREN TURNER INTERVIEW
Karen Turner is a UK artist whose work celebrates women’s body positivity. Karen creates empowering art that celebrates the beauty and diversity of women’s bodies. Through her artwork, Karen focuses on challenging traditional beauty standards and creating a safe space for fat women to feel loved and accepted.
Karen’s artwork often features brightly coloured, vibrant images of women in everyday settings. Her work celebrates the beauty of women’s bodies, showcasing them in a way that is often not seen in mainstream media. Karen has said that her goal is to show women “as they are – beautiful, confident, and with pride.”
“We should all be encouraged to love our own bodies, but we can’t just stop there – we need to be actively working to expose and challenge the barriers.”
With your artwork, you portray a message that needs to be analyzed more deeply - beauty standards. How do you respond to society's expectations for physical attractiveness? Do you think these demands are reasonable or too much?
Angry, mostly. Because it’s so overwhelmingly directed at women. That’s not to say that fat men don’t suffer discrimination because they absolutely do, but straight-sized men aren’t judged in the way that women are, and the judgement that women receive is what’s helping to fuel fatphobia. All the magazines telling young girls that cellulite is ugly is what makes them question their own appearance, and so if they think they’re fat when they’re straight-sized, what kind of judgement are they then passing on to others when they encounter people who are genuinely plus-size? They’ve been programmed to fear looking that way themselves, no matter what the body positive movement might have us think.
What we need is more fat acceptance. Body positivity is overwhelmingly a straight-sized movement, and based on learning to love yourself no matter how you look. That’s all very well, but what good is that to a fat person who’s fully aware of their own worth but yet is discriminated against on a daily basis by a society that can’t even be bothered to design chairs in which they can sit comfortably? Absolutely we should all be encouraged to love our own bodies, but we can’t just stop there – we need to be actively working to expose and challenge the barriers that fat people encounter on a daily basis.
My career in psychotherapy has given me an insight into how a person's perception of their body can shape and define their personal identity, even at an early age. Through your figurative artwork, what would you like to impart upon viewers?
I’d like them to learn that there’s nothing to fear in fat – whether it’s your own body or someone else’s. There’s nothing unusual about it, nothing unattractive, nothing unhealthy. It’s just how people are made.
Beauty standards have a sweeping effect across the world, and many of us can recall experiences that continue to motivate us to be body positive. How have we been influenced by the unrealistic ideals of beauty? Have you encountered any situations that fill you with determination to be an advocate for representing women in a positive light?
Absolutely! When I first returned to painting last year I hadn’t initially given all that much thought to my subject matter. I just painted fat women because that’s what I enjoyed painting, and what I enjoyed seeing. I’ve seen enough straight bodies in art, and I haven’t got any interest in adding to the vast number already out there. But the more I paint the more I realise how important the subject matter is, both to me and to people reacting to the work. I receive endless messages from people telling me they feel represented, and they feel beautiful. And that’s hugely inspiring.
Also, there’s loads more that I want to say about life when you’ve been born into a female body. There’s so much judgement around what we do with our bodies – are we feminine enough, are we maternal enough, do we take enough care? Society seems to have a lot to say about who and what women are supposed to be, so there’s plenty to keep me painting!
This past March, your work was chosen as the Director's Pick at The Other Art Fair in London. Such large-scale events can be a great opportunity to showcase one's art. Can I ask what profound moments have emerged from exhibiting at these events that have validated your creative mission? Do any of these experiences stand out for their impact on your approach?
I absolutely love it, which was a bit of a surprise to me. I’m 44 and have spent most of my life in a completely different career, in which I’m very much a behind the scenes person. I have no desire whatsoever to be out front, doing the talking, and so the fact that I enjoy it when I’m working in this capacity was hugely surprising and a big relief. I’m incredibly proud of my paintings and it’s a thrill to put them together for an event like The Other Art Fair, but then talking to people about them in person is the icing on the cake. I’ve had quite a few people cry when they see my work, and it’s impossible to describe what that feels like. I also once had a female doctor approach me at an art fair, who, referring to the paintings, said “I’m a reconstructive surgeon and your breasts are magnificent.” I was very proud!
On your creative path, how would you like to progress in pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable? Challenging societal norms is a great way to encourage others to think outside the box and explore new ideas.
I’m not entirely sure, other than that I definitely want everything that I paint to do that. I’ll always be interested in exploring society’s expectations around the female form, and I know I need to be more representative when it comes to the skin colour of my models, but other than that I think I’ll have to just see where the paintings take me…
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