Lokal: Can you tell us about your relationship to your works as individual pieces?

Linda Linko: “I don’t necessarily know how to rank works to different levels, they are all important to me in one way or another. Each portrait has its own story and meaning. Characters can represent a certain person, but often they are a combination of many different people’s traits. Some of the figures in the paintings are almost unknown, but have left a strong memory. I often paint personas at a different age than I have known or met them. This leaves enough room for one’s own interpretation. The works are not so much about who is presented, but how they are presented.”

L: Are there any that are particularly important to you, or any stories that you might associate to them?

LL: “A few paintings feature a character named Inge, who is based on my father’s maternal grandmother. Her young figure appears in several paintings, painted by her husband’s brother. The unifying factor of the characters in these paintings was the large and glaring eyes. My memory of the living Inge’s eyes is also similar, big, round, hundred-year-old almond eyes. I like to play with the idea of ​​what she might have been like when she was young, when the wisdom and certainty brought by age was still far on the horizon. As the name suggests, ‘Forever Lost Portrait of Inge’ refers to an existing painting that we have lost of her.”

“Artist Being an Artist is in a way a self-portrait, but also of all the artists I’ve ever known.”

“Turkulainen is based on a photograph of a brisk and happy-looking navy sailor, whom I only got to know decades later.”

“Boy from Internet portrays everybody in a way, and nobody. Whether he even exists, there is no certainty about that either. One disappearing square image among all the other squares. ‘May I flirt?’ is originally from the same idea, but he has completely taken over the square image. There is hardly any empty space left. It’s a conscious bet on his part, even though he pretends it isn’t. Actually, we wouldn’t want to look at the picture this closely, there are already too many of them. But somewhere there is someone, someone to whom this particular square image appeals.”

Shop: Linda Linko’s Work

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