Today we’d like to introduce you to Linda King.
Hi Linda, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
It seems like it has been a long road with some twists and turns. I grew up in Southern California and left home when I was 17. I attended Pasadena City College, moved on to California State University, Stanislaus where I received a BA and then on to California State University, Humboldt where I received an MA. During those school years, I worked multiple jobs to pay for my schooling. After I received my MA, I realized that I hadn’t learned enough or that I needed more. I moved out to Iowa to be in the MFA program at the University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa. I think that this is where my life really changed. My major was printmaking and I was able to study under Mauricio Lasansky and other strong artists. I learned a great deal about technique and process, but more importantly I learned about the soul of art-making, how to think like an artist and how to develop my life around art.
After receiving my MFA, I moved to Springfield, Illinois for my first teaching job at Sangamon State University. I taught various printmaking courses, art history, painting and professional art practices. Eventually it began to seem to me that I had no business teaching about art when I hadn’t been out in the art world, making art, being in galleries and supporting myself through my art. I moved to Chicago, got involved in the art world and truly started to develop my painting. During much of this time, I was with the Peter Miller Gallery in Chicago and several other galleries in the Midwest and East Coast. I exhibited nationally and internationally. I was able to dedicate myself to making my work and completely supported myself through sales. After three years, I felt like something was missing. I realized that I loved teaching and so I started to teach again at the School of the Art Institute, Chicago, Columbia College and at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Teaching was very fulfilling, my art career was doing well and I loved Chicago. Due to some personal situations, my life changed and I found I could no longer stay in Chicago. I was devastated to leave my friends, my teaching job and a place I greatly valued. I thought it was the worst thing that could have happened to me. In 1991, I ended up moving to take a full-time position teaching Painting and Drawing at Long Beach City College, Long Beach, CA.
I had a few years of difficult transition; learning to teach new classes, finding a new art community, making new friends and getting to know a broad range of neighborhoods in L.A. Many artists were extremely kind and generous to me. They introduced me to other artists, curators, museum directors, and writers. Since I have been in L.A. my work has changed from figurative to abstract. I have been in numerous solo and group shows in L.A. and around the country. The difficult change turned out to be one of the best things to have happened to me.
I taught at Long Beach City College for 26 years and retired three years ago. My life changed again. Several of the galleries that I worked with closed, some of my museum contacts retired or moved, I no longer had my teaching community and then Covid hit and the art world went online. Once again, it seemed like I was back at square one, but…not really. I am making the best work I have ever made. I work in the studio almost everyday and have been very productive. I am unsure how I fit in the commercial art world but have started to develop a new art community. It is important to me that even if I have an online presence, I need and want in-person contact. I recently did a month long exhibition of my paintings in my large studio, made sales and made new contacts. In the future, I hope to create a stronger art community for myself by not only showing my own work but by showcasing other artists who definitely deserve the attention and support.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There was always a challenge of having a full-time teaching position and finding time to make work. I made working in the studio a priority and tried to be in there 30 hours a week. Sometimes I succeeded and sometimes I didn’t.
The other struggle that I have always had is that in order for my painting to be fulfilling, I need to learn something new, to go into unknown territory, to paint myself into difficult situations and then find a way out. The struggle has been to learn that is my process and that I just have to accept the unknown and be patient in finding direction and resolution.
For me, a difficult part of art is the business side of things. For years I stressed over having galleries, not having galleries, selling, getting reviewed, getting shows. Just recently, I have been able to turn that around and realize that that system is probably not there for me anymore. And I’m not sure I need it in the same way I did. With the studio exhibition that I just did, I had sales, had an article written about the work, I developed a stronger online presence, and have started to develop a new art community. I made contacts and was just included in a three person exhibition,”Counterpoise” at the 515 Gallery in DTLA.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
In the “Passages” and “Sentinels” series the paintings are visually abstract but reference nature, art history, science, contemporary culture and a sense of time and memory. The paintings were created with layers of poured paint that were then edited down to an essential form or specific interaction. I combined very fluid movements of paint with hard-edged shapes and flat intense backgrounds, constantly shifting the viewer’s eye until shape became negative and space became shape. My interests lie with the juxtaposition of boundaries that subvert perception.
In these two series, the pours are one component of creating the painting. The other major aspect is the editing of the pour. When the pour was finished, taken as far as it could go, when it felt complete, I then looked to see what was essential for creating a specific mood or visual response. I used vintage ceramic and metal platters as stencils to edit the background and create different shapes. I placed the platters down on the areas that I wanted to save, traced around them and then painted out everything else. The platters relate to plants, nature, and biomorphic forms. The colors are derived from personal experience, what I see, what I react to. Sometimes they reference nature’s colors; algae and moss, a storm coming in, burnt ground, the leaves changing. Other times, the colors were chosen as a visual response to the urban environment, contemporary fashion, billboards and advertisements. Color is a very strong focus of my work. I try to approach color as a means of discovery. This means that sometimes the colors picked are subtle and quiet, and other times very bold and assertive.
In some of my latest work from the series; “Intervals”, Origins” and “Indicators” the process is a little different. I generally still start with big pours but then I add symbols, marks and lines, shapes, more pours. I sand, paint over, add image, sand, drip…it’s a back and forth process, one of addition and subtraction. The image is developed slowly finding its way to its own resolution.
I think one thing that might set me apart from other artists is that I am constantly changing. I work on multiple series if not concurrently, then closely linked in time. I also usually have a separate project going on. Along with my practice of making large scale paintings, I make numerous paper pieces and fine art books. I consider the books finished pieces in their own right and do not consider them sketchbooks or thoughts for paintings. The sequence of the pages, the relationship between the images is important. The previous page influences what comes next.
As of now, there are two series for my books; altered books and books about color and shape. The altered books are found books that I have painted out much of the text and have left what I find interesting, often re-contextualizing the meaning. I then collage and ink in new images, creating a new dynamic between words and images. One of the books, “Lack of Transparency” is from a child psychologist writing on children’s issues of abuse, domestic violence, poverty and other troubling problems. She uses the children’s art to explain her theories or exemplify the problems. The book is from around the 1950’s and many ideas are outdated. I have blacked out much of the writing and left some of the quotes from the children’s paintings. I have then collaged in images and inked in words that reinforce the ideas or create new possibilities for interpretation. Currently, I have three of these altered books.
The series of books on color and shape are mostly made from handmade books, using fine art papers, hand sewing and binding. I do not make the actual books and when the images are placed within they do not fit within the traditional sense of “fine art” books. I have altered them enough that they are quite often very toad like, too fat for the spine, messy and look like a distant cousin to the precious book. Most of the pages are collage using a range of handmade paper, found paper and vintage book illustrations. A few have painted shapes and colors.
What are your plans for the future?
Along with continuing to make my own work, I am looking forward to developing a stronger art community for myself. I am hoping to put on two exhibitions a year in my studio, one of my own works and one group show of other artists. There are many great artists in LA that I would like to show and support.
Contact Info:
- Website: lindakingartist.com
- Instagram: lindakingartist
- Facebook: lindakingartist
