One of the main objectives of Glossop Creates is to platform, celebrate and discover the creative talent in our town. There are many ways that we try to do this, with creative commissions and projects for artists, events, workshops, advice and networks to link like-minded people together.
Over the next few weeks, we will be introducing our followers to the artists, makers and artisans that are either from Glossop, live here, or for whom the town has been important for their work.
This week, we'd like to introduce you to Linda Hemmersbach, a painter and sculptor who moved to Glossop last year. Linda will soon be part of our mentoring scheme, where we pair local creatives with people that can help them to progress their career, see their work in a new way, or give advice and guidance on any aspect of their practice. Linda will be mentored by Ghislaine and Michael Howard, who are exceptional and acclaimed artists and academics...
Let's here more from Linda! My name is Linda Hemmersbach and I'm an artist originally from Cologne in Germany. I moved to Glossop in March 2020 just before the lockdown with my partner and our now two-year-old daughter. We recently welcomed a new baby daughter to our family. I work from a home studio where I make paintings, drawings, and small sculptures.
My paintings are inspired by my immediate surroundings and personal experiences; landscapes, the atmosphere of a place, or the essence of a memory. I love walking, and the hills and moors surrounding Glossop play an ever-inspiring role in my work. I love that you can quickly reach places that feel remote and wild, where you can be alone with the changing weather and colours of the different seasons.
I am fascinated by the rhythms, structures and cycles that underlie all living and non-living things. Within my paintings and drawings, I am searching for something elemental and primal, an essence of something once seen and felt.
Recent works reflect on the relationship between body and land and the fluidity between inner and outer worlds. I am interested in the way certain feelings lodge and locate themselves in the body. Shapes start out very intuitively, sometimes based on drawings, blurring the distinction between landscape and something bodily, micro and macrocosm.
I love using metals, such as aluminium and copper, as a surface to paint on. It imbues the paintings with an inner glow and energy and allows me to create pieces that are irregularly shaped and appear sculptural.
I am currently working towards an exhibition at JGM Gallery in London in August 2021, which will present 11 international artists' interpretations of their environments, exploring how we visualise the metaphysical link between the subconscious mind and the world we inhabit. The show's title 'Close to Home' takes inspiration from leading contemporary Indigenous Australian artists who are devoted to painting the remote landscape of their home country. I will be showing a selection of new wall-based and free-standing paintings on metal.
You can find out more about Linda and follow her work at www.lindahemmersbach.com and on Instagram: @linda_hemmersbach / @drawing_archive
