DEASA TURNER
artist/provocateur

Native Texan Deasa Turner was called to the arts at an early age, first as a stage performer and later as a member of the community of visual artists who hold a mirror to the world and dare others to see the reflection. Born in Houston, Texas to a family of working professionals, Deasa first found her inspiration in the dramatic arts. After nailing her audition and executing a masterful sleight of hand regarding her actual age, she, as a teenager, earned a spot in a variety revue where she found acting and dancing more to her liking than singing.

When her stylish look, obvious talent, and confident stage presence came to the attention of those who pay attention to these assets, offers of work as a model drew her to Paris. While maintaining an active schedule of modeling assignments, Deasa enrolled herself in plein air art classes at Sorbonne Universitie. It was there, at this storied institution in the City of Lights, that her creative spirit was drawn to the visual arts, and the slow fuse that would ignite her future as an artist found its spark.

It was a heady revelation for the talented teenager. But once her soul had been touched by the art world’s classic and contemporary masters, her interest in performing would be tempered by a growing desire to become a visual artist.

Hungry for guidance, training, and a deeper dive into the art world, she returned to the US, continuing her studies at The Masters School in New York. Weekends were spent on her senior study and classes at the Martha Graham School.

Then, it was back across the pond to embrace the works of Shakespeare and Chekhov as a student at Balliol College at Oxford University in the UK. Enriched by her studies and her interactions with a menagerie of creatives worldwide, Deasa continued to look for opportunities that would challenge her creatively. She returned to New York to study at the Fashion Institute of Technology while taking episodic roles on The Guiding Light, Another World, and The Young and the Restless.

When Hollywood came calling, Deasa was ready, and for the next 20 years, she experienced life as a working actor, appearing in a variety of comedic and dramatic roles in daytime television, prime time sitcoms, and music videos.

Marriage and motherhood led Deasa to San Francisco, a period of four years which Deasa recalls as one of the happiest times in one of the happiest places in her life. While her husband pursued his career in the upscale hospitality industry, the artist, actress, dancer, and now mother, found a new calling…as an entrepreneur.

Calling on her firsthand experience as a nursing mother, Deasa and her business partner launched a line of products directed to breast-feeding mothers. Wobbie World offered nursing pillows, wearable blankets, and a positioning pillow for expectant mothers. The brand’s initial momentum led to orders from boutique retailers across the US, but the advent of the September 11th attacks and their aftermath stalled the growth of the new enterprise and the company ceased operations.

As Longfellow reminds us, “into each life some rain must fall,” and the rainy days of Deasa Turner brought divorce, the death of her father, and personal health challenges. Seeking a fresh start, she returned to Houston, found work in her mother’s thriving real estate enterprise, and married a prominent surgeon.

As they set about the task of raising their blended family in a supportive environment, school beckoned for the youngsters and the prestigious Glassell School of Art offered an opportunity for Deasa to rekindle her creative spirit.

Deasa found the environment at The Glassell not only welcoming but invigorating. Her classes at the Glassell were led by working artists, each accomplished in their own disciplines, and Deasa found herself surrounded by fellow creatives, each at different points on their artistic journeys. And just as Deasa Turner found her new happy place, her journey took a dramatic turn.

Complications from an emergency, corrective surgery procedure greatly diminished the use of Deasa’s right arm, which made painting not only difficult but debilitatingly painful. With limited ability to draw or paint in a traditional sense, Deasa was soon drawn to the collage and assemblage expressions she had seen on display in Glassell’s halls.

In Charlotte Cosgrove, one of Glassell’s most accomplished instructors, Deasa found her inspiration and her calling. Immersing herself in Cosgrove’s vibrant classroom experiences and a seemingly endless trove of challenging assignments, she embraced her newfound passion for creating art from random, repurposed objects. Her work of late is crafted through of assemblage and transmography techniques.

Turner’s occasionally macabre work teases and intrigues the eye and transmogrify is an essential component of this expression. Deconstruction, fragmentation and even burning—accomplished with a miniature blowtorch--are among the ways that she physically transforms the objects that become her art. Turning an everyday “find” that is new, pristine, attractive or precious and scarring or scorching it to become distressed, injured, or, in essence, “pained” is this artist’s way of provoking a psychological, intellectual, or emotional response.

Deasa further credits Glassell instructors Arthur Turner (no relation) for her understanding of color theory, and Patrick Michael Palmer for reminding her of the importance of “storytelling” in her art. Her works address the events, issues, and concerns that everyone experiences in their life—ranging from personal, social, political and cultural. Theatrical montages and scenes about life are formed from assemblage creations using both old and newfound objects.

Turner’s creations regularly address issues such as the glamorization of guns, rampant consumerism, and everchanging societal norms to challenge viewers to reflect on their own existence in the complex web of contemporary culture. In her recent “Glitter, Glitter, Bang, Bang” collection, the mummification of objects was used to symbolize the limitless but nonetheless constricting ways in which humanity can become wrapped up in the cycles of life.

From her methods to her message, the artist’s refusal to adhere to conventional boundaries remains evident in both her personal and professional lives.

Deasa’s studies at Glassell continue to this day, although her studio work has become a top priority. Following her heralded 2023 solo exhibition in Los Angeles at Taylor Fine Art, Deasa is now finalizing the collection that will be showcased in September of 2024 at Houston’s Hooks-Epstein Galleries.

The artist now makes her home in Houston, in an art-filled loft/studio she shares with two cats.