The evocatively titled Above Prophecy and Grace is a recent work by Oakland-based illustrator Nicomi Nix Turner (previously seen here and here) that demonstrates a continued interest in depicting figures who are fully immersed in the natural world, and as part of that, in a continuous cycle of birth and decay. The subject is an intense-looking woman who is completely at one with nature. Her head is sprouting fungus, flowers, and beetles in a kind of living headdress; dead leaves fall from her temple, and from out of a cut in her cheek, mushrooms are blooming. Along with insects, animals and contemplative female figures, fungus, skulls, and ominous titles are recurring themes across Turner’s mostly black-and-white graphite illustrations, which both celebrate nature and acknowledge its darker side.
