Artist Bio
Malea Linder was born in Anacortes,Washington, and is currently based in Bellingham, Washington. She is graduating with her Bachelor’s of Art concentration of mixed media at Western Washington University in the Fall of 2024. She has participated in local and community art shows and art walks in Skagit, and Whatcom Counties. She gained recognition in 2020, receiving a student artist scholarship from the Skagit Art Association, and later became the youngest member of the SAA in 2021. She plans to attend Woodring College of Education to obtain a Secondary Education Certification for art. She works mainly with charcoal, graphite, and ink.
Artist Statement
My drawings explore the connection I have to the natural world and my consistent teetering between cynicism and child-like wonder for the spaces around me real and imagined. I have a strong connection to nature, and the greater San Juan Islands area where I was raised. I have begun to explore the ancient relationships between Christianity and paganism through the lens of current politics. Much of my inspiration comes from nature, music, folk tales, and history. Often using folk history and culture to guide myself and my work to combine fantastical elements with the real. I tend to think in images, piece them together, and synthesize these into the physical images that I compose. Which has now lent itself into my exploration of illustration. My work often appears as detailed and or complex with a heavy use of symbolism.
I scarcely use color in my work, as I often feel distracted by it, and tend to be more focused on the imaging rather than the emotive element colors can bring. I recently have branched into learning new artistic methods. I love the idea of a craft, where the process is just as interesting or important as the final product. I was able to reconnect with my early and current inspirations of children’s literature and illustration in a meaningful way.
My work is currently exploring modern themes and relationships through religious symbolism, a spark that started from my senior year exhibition in the B Gallery at Western Washington University inspired by Saint Lucy, examining her and religious symbols through a feminist lens focusing on the plight of women and their value as individuals in patriarchal and violent society.