Linda Plaisted says, "'The Altarpiece’ Series is mixed media work layering by hand my original photography with found photos, maps, and book pages deliberately torn, then collaged onto cradled birch panel, finished with either encaustic or cold wax and mended with gold leaf, to honor ancestral mothers whose legacy I have inherited; both their traumas and their strengths.

The finished pieces bring together many overlapping cultural practices that strive for ancestral healing and affirm that the outdated beliefs and patterns of the past end with me and will not be passed on to my descendants.

Glimpsed through the layers of the piece are pages from a 105 year old book, “The Trees of Pennsylvania” that represent where I was born, along with vintage maps of where my ancestral mothers lived. I layered images on a background of golden joss paper, commonly used as burnt offerings in Chinese ancestral worship, to ensure that the spirits of the dead have sufficient means in the afterlife. There are both incised and raised elements that go below and rise above the surface, revealing words and symbols that reflect the passage of time and the ups and downs weathered by these resilient women, to whom I owe my very life.

Though torn and imperfectly-mended with gold leaf in the method of Japanese Kintsugi, the elements surrounding and bleeding through the central figure evoke the iconography of ancient Byzantine altarpieces. These compelling icons gave visual form to complex theological concepts such as the sacrifice of the Saint, here embodied as a Woman, and how she suffered and continues to be sacrificed for our sins.”

Linda Plaisted is an award-winning American multi-disciplinary artist whose exploratory practices include photography, collage, painting and encaustic. Her work has been exhibited widely in galleries throughout the United States. She has also illustrated book and magazine covers for major publishers and contributed to art and literary journals. 

She is a 2023 Julia Margaret Cameron Award Winner and 2023 Photolucida Critical Mass Finalist. 

Each piece she creates tells a story by pushing beyond the boundaries of medium into myth, using traditions of collection, synthesis and cultural interpretation. Approaching her work as both artist and historian, she uses her unique visionary practices to champion women and the natural world. Layering her original photography and paintings with found images and gathered ephemera, she creates photographic mixed media pieces with translucent veils of narrative; layers of time and memory bleeding through one another to seek a deeper truth.

IMAGES FOR SALE-

Each piece is one of a kind. Prices on request.
Contact: Linda@LindaPlaisted.com


http://lindaplaisted.com
https://www.instagram.com/themanymuses/