Explain about your involvement in the Art in Embassies?

The American Arts in Embassies program provides a database which allows US diplomats to select art for loan while the diplomat is residence.. My work was selected by Robert Godec, the U.S. Ambassador to Bangkok, and is now on display in his diplomatic residence. The work will remain on display until his tenure is up at which time it will be shipped back to me.

‘Quartet Elephant’ on display in American Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand

When did you first use mixed medium in your art?

While earning my masters in painting degree, I ended up in an elective collage course, because my first choice, ceramics, was always full. As the only grad student in class, my professor encouraged me to work independently and choose a variety of materials to push the boundaries of collage. I used all sorts of materials such as wood and metal scraps, glass, paper, fabric, string and found objects.  After that class, merely painting was not always satisfying. The joy of delving into materials and the third dimension eventually led me to my second graduate degree in sculpture.

“Beastly Floral: Wildcat” Acrylic, beads, charms, yarn, grommets on canvas 80”x120″

Why do you find it such a gratifying medium?

Using a multitude of materials creates complex visuals and allows the viewer to engage in a sort of game play of discerning exactly what the eye is seeing. Mixed media also incorporates the history of objects and materials such as furniture, fabrics, mementos and jewelry from my own life and that of others. I feel the past lives of these elements and the memories they contain. There are all the traditional associations and uses of the objects that add another layer and for me, the beauty of mixed media is that the palettes are endless!

Sacred Spiral, Mixed media on canvas, 50 x71″

Where do you collect your added medium such as textiles and beads from?

I am always collecting materials to reuse in my work, such as friends’ used pajamas and bedsheets for my “Closet Monster” installation. I imagined the dreams and nightmares contained within them as I sewed the creature in his lair. I love reusing my broken crockery, furniture, jewelry, and objects to give them another life. Friends give me many items to repurpose and I am the lucky recipient of beautiful bits of beads, metal and stones from a couple of generous jeweler friends.

Sacred Ground,  Repurposed furniture, beads, acrylic on canvas

Discuss, “Trion, Trees and Lion” where do you go to study lions?  By adding mixed medium explain how it enhances the lion, make him less formidable – is this your intention?

“Trion” is part of my Flauna series, which combines the beauty and complexity of flora and fauna in novel ways. The lion face is painted over the intricate meanderings of tree images, alluding to the richness and unexpected labyrinth of inner life. I want to encourage humans to identify with our fellow sentient beings, perhaps see parts of themselves in them. The layered imagery makes the lion more relatable and perhaps more thoughtful and vulnerable.

“Trion” trees + lion, Mixed media on wood panel 14 x11″

These days I study lions, and all other creatures on the internet. In early days before computers, I would make scrapbooks of collected photos and images of creatures that I was drawn to. Sometimes I want a realistic image, but I often set aside reality and create my creatures from my imagination.

Why do animals play such a large part in your work?

I have always been attracted to and enchanted by animals. The original ones were the Cocker Spaniel puppies my mother bred in our family home. I adored the imaginary ones, such as Dumbo, who was my favorite character as a child. I even believed the animal cookies I ate lived on in my stomach! I remember seeing elephants for the first time in the zoo and falling in love with their immense size and mesmerizing swinging trunks. I am always drawn to animals in my daily life, whether its the dog at the party, road tripping to check out a zebra-donkey hybrid with friends, or just the native wildlife around me in my world. I relate on an emotional level to animals and employ them to portray my world of thoughts and feelings.

Lost, 2023 18×24″ Acrylic and graphite on gray paper.

What has led you to working with large installations?

I craved a larger experience for my pieces and wanted to envelope the viewer in my world. In my installation, “Serio in Verse,” I began to incorporate soft sculpture along with paintings, creating a conversation between 2d and 3d elements. Eventually these led to the addition of even more diverse materials on the wall including a life size figure, painted elements, found objects and string in “The Butterfly Effect.” This last one was inspired by the structure of a crime board, with lengths of string making connections and cross referencing between the elements. With my installations, I want to create experiences that you feel like you are stepping into rather than looking just looking at on the wall.

The Butterfly Effect, Soft sculpture, found objects, yarn and mixed media installation. 96x140x12″

Can you take us through the thought process of “Where will you go, what will you do, who will you be?

“Where will you go, what will you do, who will you be?” Mixed media installation. 44×88″

Each of the nearly identical painted dog figures incorporates a unique element: a feather, spikes or even a tree growing out of it’s head. These details symbolize the choices we make in this life. I was inspired to create this as I observed my son and his friends maturing into young adults and making decisions that would direct their lives. The string shows how these possibilities can intersect, reconnect, or veer into a completely different direction. Small found objects where the strings meet suggest memories, experiences, and milestones.

While discussing this work can you also explain the size, and where was it made for?

This wall sized piece was originally exhibited in my solo exhibit at The Everhart Museum in Scranton, PA. The challenge of an installation is to make a large visual experience that attracts the viewer but requires a closer look to experience the intimate pieces that comprise the work. One must come up closely to see the personal detail and particularities of each figure after seeing the larger geometry of the full installation.

How do you combine textiles and paint?

Which came first?

By adding acrylic paint does it also add movement?

The Bad Thing,  48×60 Acrylic and mixed media on quilted fabrics

I originally worked only with paint. As I began to try collage with 2d elements, I also began to add fabric in my mixed media pieces. Some of the pieces begin with a very messy layer of acrylic paint as a base which suggests forms to me. I then layering with fabric and collage. I usually bring paint back on top of the fabrics. In my quilt tapestry works, I combine scraps of fabric, then sew them together and stretch them on a frame and paint over the quilted fabrics to define the imagery.  I find that adding paint over the fabrics’ diverse colors and patterns creates movement and layers of interest.

What are you currently working on?

I’m currently working on a series that revisits the concept of repurposing furniture as integral elements of paintings. About 20 years ago, I was gifted bits of beautiful antique furniture and was inspired to use them in my work. A recently broken chair with dark patina wood and beautiful swirls demanded that I create a new series of these. The beauty of life contained within a piece of wood speaks to me and is a reference to my love of nature, an underlying theme in my work. Lately, these pieces involve hours of tiny beadwork that satisfy my obsessive mind and bring a sense of magic and sparkle to the works.

Welcome to Heaven, Repurposed furniture, acrylic, canvas, yarn, beads

Did Covid alter your art practice?

Covid and the quarantine did change things for me. In the beginning, I stayed home and began a quarantine journal using scraps of fabric heat-pressed to paper. I would then draw images with ink and journal my thoughts for the day. Later, when I felt comfortable enough to go to my studio, I began painting my white-out series. I felt as if life was being whited-out in quarantine and isolation, so the works reflected that absence of color. I explored many common themes such as fear, loneliness and separation and how time became ambiguous and strange.

Time was Something, from Whiteout series. Graphite and acrylic on fabric

Discuss, the joy of breaking the rules.

As an artist with three fine art degrees, I have learned a lot of rules. Fortunately, most of them recede as I stick to my own path. One in particular has always annoyed me. I learned that paintings with a lot of emotional content were often labeled sentimental or nostalgic. After decades of creating, I no longer listen to that critical voice; I just tell the imaginary censor to get lost because I have something to say.

Comment on how important it is to continually extend yourself and your art.  How do you manage not to let yourself repeat, but rather extend you art?

I feel the need to constantly evolve, or I tend to get a little bored. I will switch sizes, structures, materials and mediums to get myself back into a flow. My husband gave me alcohol inks for Christmas last year, a new medium I had never heard of. It has been a challenge! They bleed and run and have no interest in what I’m trying to do, which has made for some crazy exploration. But in the end, I’ve found the unpredictability quite enjoyable and have created my own way of using them, adding acrylic paints, text and even collaging. I think it helps to “stir the soup,” keeps things fresh. I’m not afraid to try something new, and I’m not afraid to fail. It may take quite a few failures, but eventually I will get to something that satisfies me.

What has been an exhibition that has made you look closely at the message you are wanting the viewer to see?

My exhibit, “Secrets,” from this past January was the culmination of a very personal journey. For the year previous, I worked in a quiet, contemplative, private, studio practice. I was attempting to tune out the public, the social media, the likes and comments, all the things that artificially affect my work.

“Secrets” graphite, acrylic, collage on paper

I didn’t post these pieces and as a result, this process generated work that was honest and unafraid. This was not an easy year, with personal difficulties that needed to be fully experienced and expressed cathartically. I took this time and tried a new approach of colored graphite, with acrylic on paper using a limited subdued color palette. I took the leap of adding poetic text to these pieces and sharing my inner thoughts. After the year was over, I exhibited many of the pieces and created a companion book of the show. Keeping my work to myself for the year allowed me to create something authentic that I later felt comfortable sharing.

Contact:

Linda Mitchell

Website:www.lindamitchellartist.com

Email: Lindamitchellart@comast.net

Deborah Blakeley, Melbourne, Australia

Interview by Deborah Blakeley, September 2024

Images on these pages are all rights reserved by Linda Mitchell