Annie Oakley and Friends Shoot Down Oppression

watercolor & gouache, 18" x 18", 2019

This painting deals with oppression in plain and simple terms that Americans understand–GUNS! As we view Annie and friends shooting down corsets, we see in the lower section of the paining a display of the history of women’s protests from women suffragists to pussy hats

My paintings are my protest and my voice. I have spent decades painting struggles I witness. Misogyny, greed, and environmental destruction are not new, but they are urgent and art must bear witness.
My paintings reflect my journey through a world corroded by injustice, and systemic greed. Through watercolors, an intentionally delicate medium, I portray the resilience and vulnerability of those navigating oppression. I don’t claim to have the answers. Instead, I offer questions about power, about truth, about who gets to write the story of our world.

Seattle-based artist Li Turner is a figurative painter who explores social issues with both seriousness and wit. Her watercolor images and observations embrace an encyclopedia of injustices and dilemmas, often with a gentle deprecating humor. Turner uses the power of color to pursue topics that range from the everyday to the profound, touching on sexism, racism, poverty, pollution, and a host of other inequalities.

Turner’s work is held in the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the University of Washington, and the Portland Contemporary Arts Gallery. Her paintings have been exhibited throughout North American, Scotland, China, and Denmark.