Linda Colsh

Linda Colsh

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Women

When I walk city streets, my eye is drawn to people who others do not see: invisible older women overlooked by the rushing crowd. By noticing the unnoticed, I identify them as worthy of note.

Sociologists study the invisibility of ageing women as a social phenomenon they call the Invisible Woman Syndrome. Being unseen implies irrelevance, insignificance and a host of other negatives.

To capture the images of these women, I disappear into the crowd. I’m not a professional photographer, but street photography with a small digital camera that with a powerful zoom or my iPhone enables my collection of characters to feature in my art. 

I draw on my pool of images of the elderly to create the narrative art quilts that have become my signature. After uploading my photos onto the computer, I work with the images in Photoshop. I develop several variations of each woman and then print repeating images on fabric.

The care I devote to each woman conveys legitimacy and respect and makes the invisible not just visible, but even remarkable. The time I spend with an image allows me to develop a character and imagine her story—to get close to her.

Because the woman is anonymous, I am free to build conjecture and venture into what J.K. Rowling calls “the murky marshes of memory and thickets of wildest guesswork.” Leaving space for viewers to interpret my artwork, I lay a foundation for others to embellish and embroider for themselves the narratives I begin.

Melancholia
Melancholia detail
The Long Run
The Long Run detail
All The Cups Are Chipped
All The Cups Are Chipped detail
pieds de verre
pieds de verre detail
The Weather In Her Head
Weather In Her Head detail
Allusion
Allusion detail
Snow Falls
Snow Falls detail
Twilight
Twilight detail
Red
Red detail
Saison 5
Saison 5 detail
The Shopper
The Shopper detail
The Saver
The Saver detail
The Sweeper
The Sweeper detail
Cabinet of Curiosities
Cabinet of Curiosities detail
Defiant
Defiant detail
Gathering
Gathering detail
Almost There
Almost There detail
Journey
Journey detail
Twisting the Plot
Twisting the Plot detail
Tall Weeds, Shallow Water
Tall Weeds, Shallow Water detail
Drawing on the Mist
Drawing on the Mist detail
Brittle Silence
Brittle Silence detail
[Show thumbnails]

 

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Copyright © 2021 · Photo credits: Ryan Stein Photography, Pol Leemans & Gregory Case
The entire contents of this website and all images copyrighted by the artist ©2018 Linda Colsh, All Rights Reserved. Reproduction or duplication must have permission from the artist.
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