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August 5 2022
THE WEEKEND LIFESTYLER
Visual vitality
Kaiwaka-based Linda Gilbert is an artist who finds inspiration for her abstract paintings from the natural surroundings of the Kaipara District. “Kaiwaka feels very special — there is an energy here that attracted me,” Linda says. Linda’s great-grandfather was a painter and lithographer who studied at the Glasgow School of Art. Her late mother and brother were photographers who also enjoyed painting and drawing. The arts were highly valued in the Gilbert household. “I grew up in Grey Lynn in the 1960s and 70s; it was a multicultural, vibrant inner-city suburb in Auckland. Artists and immigrants were attracted to live there because the rent was cheap.
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and I’m never happier than when I’m painting.” Linda has juggled earning a living, with finding the time to paint. She describes her painting as more of a calling. “If I don’t paint, I get angsty — it is an essential part of who I am.” Abstract painting interests Linda. She says she lets the material lead the way and compares her process to playing jazz. “I enjoy working with a range of materials, including acrylic paint and various dry media. Layers are built up to reveal and conceal different
The surface is important because it can be fragile yet resilient — like the earth, which inspires my art “I recall Hundertwasser lived down the road, and the band Dragon could be heard practising from their house next to Grey Lynn Park. It was a poor suburb but rich in culture and diversity. “I have painted for as long as I can remember. My mother once wrote to our Scottish relatives, telling them: ‘Linda has just come home from school with about a gross of paintings to show me, her pony-tails un-done and a glove hanging out of each pocket’. “I had only been at school for two months. Nothing has really changed. I still make lots of work,
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aspects of the painting as it evolves. I work on a special paper made from calcium carbonate. “It is a smooth surface that I mark, inscribe, emboss and add and subtract from. It repels and absorbs depending on the medium. My process is intuitive and gestural; a constant process of push and pull until the work declares itself finished.” Linda is grateful that B&F Papers sponsor the paper she uses called Rockstock, and is normally used in industrial applications. She says she favours it because of its low
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p Linda Gilbert is an abstract artist who has grown up with art and has always pursued her love for painting
environmental impact. It is made from ground rocks, and no water is used in its production. “The surface is important because it can be fragile yet resilient — like the earth, which inspires my art.” Linda is a member of Mangawhai Artists and has a Bachelor in Visual Arts from AUT. She is pursuing a Master’s in Fine Arts at Whitecliffe School of Fine Arts. In August, she will have a solo exhibition at Demo in Auckland, followed by her graduation show in November at Whitecliffe in Auckland. ¢
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p An example of Linda’s artwork titled Entanglement
P: Mark 021 409 189 E: info@nlol.co.nz W: www.nlol.co.nz