Digital Art & Illustration 02: Focus on Linda Bergkvist

By: Chris Murphy

The body of work by Swedish digital artist, Linda Bergkvist, invokes images reminiscent of artists like John William Waterhouse, who is most often mistaken as a pre-Raphaelite artist but is truly a Neo-Classic painter. It is quite lofty to compare many modern artists to our classical forbearers, but in this case, I personally feel that it is an accurate comparison in terms of style. John Waterhouse had a gift for composition, and eye for color and an imagination that spanned classical mythology, historical, and literary subjects.

There is an underlying mythology to Linda Bergkvist’s work that is quite apparent when you troll through her galleries. It is a spark of wonder, horror, curiosity or cold indifference that pulls you into each of her pieces. Her paintings are imbued with a strangeness that is both familiar and alien at once. Linda’s early works cleverly blurred the fine line between the sexes that resulted in androgynous subjects that while still recognizably human, displayed fantastical traits you might expect only in a fairy tale. In short: Linda Bergkvist’s work is utterly beautiful.

I first noticed her work on CGTalk while rummaging through the countless galleries of various digital artists. Her work immediately jumped out at me, not simply because of the quality of her images, but for the same semblance to John Waterhouse that I mentioned earlier. I would not be surprised if she noted Waterhouse or any of his counterparts as her earlier influences. Regardless of artistic similarities, Linda’s work commands attention.

For me, her most influential works are her self-admitted “quick” paintings. Those rough pieces that are bits of imagination not fully realized and only half rendered, have been a source of inspiration for some of my work. I love her color palettes, which even while delving into darker subjects, burns with intensity rarely found with other artists.

Take the time to look through her gallery if you’re in need of something different than the countless flash or blog sites out there; or if you’re a book collector, Linda has many of her works in print and you can purchase some of them at Ballistic Publishing.

Other Links:

1. View her CGTalk portfolio here.
2. View her website here.

Technorati : Digital Art, Illustration

• Posted: November 24, 2006
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