Printmaking
Lithonia, GA
Printmaking
Lithonia, GA
www.LinnPrintWorks.com
Artist Bio
My subject matter is taken from the urban landscape, often depicting older buildings and street scenes with particular attention paid to old signage. These remnants of the Mom and Pop era symbolize a time when people knew their neighbors, and businesses were owned by individuals and families with a stake in their communities. They offer us a glimpse of our past, previous to the wave of franchising that homogenized much of every day commerce across America.
I have explored this theme in my artwork for nearly twenty years. Growing up in the South, many of these images have significance to me personally, some sort of back-story or memory behind them. I have always been a sentimental person and many of my memories are deeply rooted in a sense of place. This is the most fundamental reason for what I do. My subjects are not always significant to a lot of people, but there is evidence that these places are well worn and well traveled, that life has happened there. An authentic patina of time is a requirement for my
subjects.
Often it feels as if I am making a visual record of my own memories. This rings especially true when one of my subjects is torn down or altered in some way. The landscape is constantly changing, and many of my past subjects have since disappeared without much fanfare. I feel it is important to pay tribute to an aspect of life that does not always garner much attention, except in the collective memory of those who experienced it. Upon seeing my work, people often tell me their own stories of time spent in these places. It is very rewarding to me that my images can spark that response in others.
I focus primarily on making linocuts because I feel that there is something inherently interesting in them, that even the most mundane of subjects can be made more interesting in the way that it is carved. Keeping most of my images in black and white lends itself to what I am trying to convey, an element of the past. I hope that my prints will foster an appreciation for these beloved places that are rapidly disappearing from our roadsides and street corners.
