Northern California based artist, Linda Christensen, is not interested in showcasing the perfect human form, or in pedantically depicting in realistic detail a person’s exterior. Her sub-surface focus of emotional interiors is harder to reach, but for her, so much more worthwhile to tap into and express.

Drawing first and foremost from human emotion, Christensen’s artistic process is deeply intuitive, subtle and spontaneous. Her evocative figurative paintings are the end result of the artist carefully transmitting the weight and evasiveness of her subject’s private realm, which is two-fold: while we are invited to observe the figure in her intimate personal surrounds, positioned, say, in her bedroom, a dimly lit study, or by a secluded shoreline, we are also drawn deeper into the works to contemplate the subject’s inner, mental life. Immersed in the ingrained motions of mundane activities – unreflectively setting a table, washing dishes, reclining in a familiar chair – the subject is free to turn inwards, losing herself in a stream-of-consciousness that is embedded within. For the artist, this internal roaming is what brings us closer to ourselves; a gentle tethering to ourselves: “There is something magical in seeing the humanness in others. What I see is that people come back to themselves; a check in.  I think they are coming back to their own source, their soul, their gift.” Occupying this stance, one is self-reflective but uncritical, free to explore imaginative associations, nuanced memories and a succession of fluid, interlinked thoughts that are inherently personal.