Meet Linda Sutton
We are extremely happy to have Linda Sutton as one of our Artists for our Art on a Ukulele Project. Linda is an Essex born painter, though much of her time and work is spent in Calabria, Italy. She graduated from the Royal College of Art and has since been a regular exhibitor at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition where she has been a prize winner numerous times. In 1970-71 Linda lived in Belgium where, because of her obvious talent, she was given a free studio at the Antwerp Academy, where Queen Fabiola of Belgium bought one of her paintings.
Le Nozze di Figaro, http://www.lindasutton.com/
Linda has a large following, particularly in Cabria where she is the first non-Italian to have had an exhibition in Chiesa della Badia. This is not surprising given the influence mythology and narrative based themes have on Linda's work, drawing links to some of the best loved Italian Theatrical works and Operas - Don Giovanni, Faust, Desdemona and Rusalka are just some of the subjects she depicts. In Le Nozze di Figaro, based on the Comedic Opera by Mozart in which servants get married against the wishes of their philandering employers, teaching them a lesson in fidelity. In this work, Linda has chosen to focus on Rosina, the Countess whose husband is chasing the affections of a servant girl. Rosina is one of the more tragic characters in this comedic piece, depicted here forlorn and thoughtful. She is dressed in red, which lies in contrast to her pale blue-green skin, revealing the sense of a lost soul. This is common in Linda’s work, her characters often hold a dream-like quality, suspended in thought and contemplation.
Alcina, http://www.lindasutton.com/
The dreaminess of her work is directly linked to her own relationship to painting. Linda has said that she first delved into the mythological worlds of her paintings when she was very sick as a child, using fantasy as escapism and to strengthen her to rise above hardship. Stylistically there is a delicacy and romanticism to the work, adding a personal perspective to well-known epic, historical narratives.
On her work Linda says ‘Not how much information is on a surface but how much reaction evoked from that surface is important to me. More than just the admiration of a painting but an experience, or a remembered moment, distracting viewers from the consuming influence of civilization, even if only for a moment.’
Cossi di Frutti, http://www.lindasutton.com/
We are so delighted to have Linda on board with the trust, and are so excited to see how she approaches our Art on a Ukulele project so please join us to find out more by having a look at our Phundee page and getting involved, and signing up to our mailing list (at the bottom of the page) to receive updates about this project and to find out about our crowdfunding campaign, the rewards we are offering and be part of the process over the next few weeks.
About the writer
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Rosa Torr has a BA in Politics and Philosophy from London currently at University College Dublin. Her place of interest is political theory and in particular Gender Studies. Rosa has written for numerous online publications and the University Observer. She is also a theatre maker and is currently co-artistic director of BUMP&GRIND Theatre Company. The show she co-wrote BUMP will be on at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. |
