DESTIG INTERVIEW WITH LINDA ATKINSON, NUMBER 11 ON OUR LIST OF 25 RECOMMENDED ARTISTS FOR 2019.
Tell us about yourself.
I began drawing at three and never slowed down. At six I conducted art classes in the attic, my three younger sisters my students. At eleven, Dad built me a studio in the basement, no sisters allowed. At fourteen I pleaded to leave home to attend a school of the arts high school, located in North Carolina. No go, but as a consolation prize, I was given a room in my grandmother’s house for a studio and a Famous Artist Correspondence course. There was never any real question of my becoming an artist.
What makes your work and approach unique?
As a sculptor in graduate school, I worked primarily with professors in the painting department, particularly the photo realist painter Robert Bechtle. I made sculptures of potted plants, human scale, painterly, gestural. I painted shadow and light as if the sculptures were flat, giving them a heightened synthetic sense of reality. From sculptures of plants I moved on to making sculptures that addressed genres usually reserved for painting– florals, still life and landscape. The challenge in painting sculpture is to paint each side differently and uniquely, and by the time you are back at the beginning the painting must come together as a whole.
Why is your work a good investment?
This award, as one of the Top Emerging Artists for 2019 pretty much says it. It is an honor to be included in this publication, with the opportunity to present my art to a global audience. As an art appraiser, I would have to say that the best investment you can make in art is buying something you truly would love to live with. Trust your own judgement, trust your eye.
"The challenge in painting sculpture is to paint each side differently and uniquely, and by the time you are back at the beginning the painting must come together as a whole."
Tell us about some of your achievements.
My proudest achievement was winning the commission to carve the Ark doors for Temple Emanuel in Roanoke. The center piece of the sanctuary, the 4’x8’x3” doors are of carved and painted mahogany, lit from within and pierced with stain glass.
What is the backstory of one of your pieces?
When I was invited to submit a proposal for the Ark doors at Temple Emanuel, I researched Jewish symbols and struggled with pulling those symbols together cohesively. Ultimately I settled on a Tree of Life motif, and my design was unanimously chosen by the Temple selection committee. After I carved the doors, I was reading an older brochure about the Temple, and found that the relief sculpture above the doors was a combination of Hebrew letters that signified tree of life! After my doors were installed, I invited my parents to the dedication, and my Dad recognized the Temple as built by my grandfather’s construction firm of brick masons. Destiny, perhaps?
What are you passionate about?
I’m passionate about color. It’s the color relationships that I find most interesting, and I learn something new with each brushstroke. I might have a general idea of what colors I want to use, but once the creative process takes over, I try to stay open to all color options. My goal is to make it work, to keep it fresh, to create an aliveness and energy, to not be too predictable.
"I believe that the artist is an envoy of the human spirit who’s job it is to re- establish the 'enchanted' dimensions at the core of human existence."
What are your sources of inspiration?
Landscape inspires me. Art history. Other artists. The creative process inspires me. But ultimately I would have to say my own work. I make one piece, and that piece leads me to another, and then another. I tend to work in series, and I have three or four directions going on at any one time. I have more ideas than I can keep up with.
Share with us your upcoming projects.
One of the most rewarding projects for me is the yearly Open Studios tour. A dozen or more artists open their studios to the public for a weekend. It’s a beautifully promoted event, a visual art tour that meanders through the Fall countryside. It’s an opportunity for sales, and I enjoy sharing my studio with the public, and educating interested visitors about the process of wood carving.
Tell us about where you are based.
I am based in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia in the small town of Fincastle, outside of Roanoke. I grew up here, and was very anxious to leave after high school. I went to college in Richmond and then to the Bay Area for graduate work. I lived a block from the ocean in Santa Cruz, and went to the beach nearly everyday. I moved back to southwestern Virginia for family, and now live in a fairy tale landscape of rolling hills and mountains, cornfields and cow pastures. I am confronted by a stunning landscape every day, and it just feels right, it is home.
"Art has directed every aspect of my life."
How do you feel about Art and its role in the world today?
I believe that the artist is an envoy of the human spirit who’s job it is to re-establish the “enchanted” dimensions at the core of human existence- poetry, myth, passion, imagination, true love, magic, the marvelous, dreams. In the words of Michael Lowy, art is also the utopian and revolutionary aspiration to “transform life”- an adventure that is at once intellectual and passionate, political and magical, poetic and dreamlike.
What keeps you coming back to the studio, day after day?
I’m looking for a visual experience that is satisfying to me and unfolds with the making. In addition to my house sculptures, I have several other series that I have investigated over the years. One is a series of carved and painted mahogany relief sculptures, life-size silhouette shapes of the female form enclosing an interior dreamlike landscape. I have a series of non-objective painted constructions, as well as a series of still life objects carved from wood and painted. Another is a series of totems, free-standing sculptures that combine images one atop another.
The best reaction to your artwork?
The best compliment I received of my work was that it was that it was profound. I’m not satisfied to make pretty objects, I want my work to have soul, to be humorous, whimsical, unpredictable, well-made, beautiful, to have heart.
What questions are you asked most frequently about your work?
What’s the significance of this or that element? What’s the snake about? What’s with the ladder? What’s the meaning of the iron? In carving recognizable objects from wood I get the chance to add layers of meaning. An iron can be a symbol of women’s work, it can be seen as enslavement or a strength, depending on your point of view. A ladder can signify progress, ascenscion, and spiritual passage.
"There was never any real question of my becoming an artist."
What’s your artist story? (as opposed to your biography and CV)
Art has directed every aspect of my life. I have a BFA and MFA in sculpture which enabled me to teach, and I taught sculpture, drawing and art history as a part-time adjunct for many years, as I was never interested in teaching full time. Studio time was my priority, and making art came first. Somehow being a sculptor emboldened me to undertake a motley collection of jobs including brick-laying, construction, working in a bubblegum factory, a fiberglass technician making mining devices, waitress, book-keeper, gallery director, motel manager, salesperson, childcare worker, art appraiser, mother.
Who is your art for?
I would hope that there is something in my art for everyone. I want these objects to have weight and presence, to provoke curiosity, to be multi-faceted, to be interesting and visually beautiful, to be profound, and to have heart.
Website: lindaatkinsonart.com
| PDF of the Interview in DESTIG Magazine |