His interests run a multi- faceted gamut which includes literature, architecture, gardening, and Chinese painting. By dipping into this deep well of resources, he comes up with an unusual artistic mix of ethnic, geographic and psychological diversity. Intermingling past and present, he shuttles between East and West, irreverently skewering fixed canons from both realms. Turner blends his multi-cultural approach with a freewheeling use of appropriation. The result of this schizophrenic mixture is an unusual amalgamate of cultural myths and images.
Artists borrowing and appropriating from diverse cultures has a long history.
The art of the Symbolists, for example, was infused with Eastern myths. But Turner's actual experiences with Asian culture have created schisms that result in a unique fusion of images. As a resident in Asia, yet an outsider, Turner experienced the double sense of participation and separation. But Eastern artistic in tent differs greatly from the West. Gods in Asian art, for example, are supposed to radiate spiritual power.