Gasp
Chances are you’ve never seen an artist who can paint like Linnea Strid. Her unbelievable water paintings are so realistic they make you want to reach out and feel the cool drops splash onto your skin. Representing everything from change, routines, life, salvation, death, and rebirth, water takes on different meanings depending on the context.
I was able to catch up with Linnea to ask her about her work.
What’s the thought process behind your work? How do you come up with ideas for your paintings?
“I usually get obsessed with different things, and then I spend a lot of time thinking about, trying to decide how to best picture it in my art. I take long walks with my dog every day, and it’s a great way to clear the head and like some sort of meditation. That’s where most of my ideas usually pops up.”
You’ve said that you “paint in a photo realistic style, but always with the strong desire to convey an odd feeling, a forgotten memory, or maybe just something that is typical of her own little world.” Can you elaborate on this statement?
“Most of my pieces are like snap shots of my (or someone else’s) every day life, and most likely there’s a small twist added to it, in the painting itself or in the title. Like some sort of underlying irony, a more serious or political touch, contradictory feelings, or something else. I really do enjoy working in a photo realistic style, it’s always been “my” medium of expression, ever since I was a kid I knew that it was what I did best and what I liked to do most.”
The Drowning Artist
Cry You a River
Drip Drop
Daily Routines
Under the Surface
I’m Erasing You
Rinse and Exhale
What kind of emotions do you hope people will feel through your work?
“Art can be viewed in different ways, and one person can look at a piece that I’ve made and just think “oh, that’s a pretty picture, it’s very well done”. I don’t judge people who can’t spot anything more in my work than that, and it’s ok. But after a first glance you can also come to the conclusion that a painting like “Rinse and exhale” can tell you some sort of alternative story, like why is she taking a shower with her clothes on? And the water running on her face, is it only water or are they tears? I don’t want to be too obvious when I make a painting, I want the viewer to decide what it means and what the painting is telling them.”