Spotlight Artist

Linda Vredeveld

Midwest
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Blue Pocket Alarms

Abstract blue painting with silver bows and a tied ribbon, accented with white and yellow shapes.

oil, 1980s fabric, buttons, buckle on canvas, and electric alarm clocks

Last Dance

Abstract painting with swirling earth tones, a blue dot in the center, and green fringe at the bottom.

oil, gel transfer, vintage buttons and trim, and upholstery tacks on canvas

Matching Curtain / Carpet Torso

Abstract painting with colorful curved brushstrokes and a textured strip along the top edge.

oil, jello molds, button, carpet and pad swatches, hardware on canvas, curtain, and rod

Featured in New American Paintings1 / 3

Artist Statement

 My work is about the press of time on the female body and the wear and tear of our cultural beliefs on the contemporary female psyche. It looks back at the assumptions and fantasies of my particular era—coming of age in the ‘80s; motherhood in the ‘90s—and identifies the misogyny, both internalized and external. My work also considers how the body is measured and evaluated, and speaks of the relationship we have with our own bodies in a shifting context. Its postmenopausal and omniscient point of view brings clarity—even levity—to a dark theme that questions whether the movement of feminism’s optimism and strides are not going to be enough. Even so, there is a celebration of life force, undiminished.

The torso fills each painting; the body becomes the canvas on which the bravado of gestural, abstract painting is performed, tempered by multiple edits and layers. Scrapbook-like collaged pieces and colors create a mood of another era, but this nostalgia works hard to manage the memories and messages of a time that deserves a revengeful retelling.

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