Linda Karshan's creative process, in which movement of the whole body plays a central role, is inspired by her studies under Robert Reed at Skidmore College, himself a former student and disciple of Josef Albers. His teaching of Basic Drawing / Basic Design is with her in the studio every day and has guided her to develop her own language. One finds in her drawings the same economy of means and interest in Plato and the beauty of geometric forms, rigour and discipline as precept and result as well as the evidence of the hand.

“Art is not an object but experience” From Joseph Albers poem Seeing Art ca. 1952
“Individual interests direct our attention and therefore our focusing differently. A swimmer looks at water in another way than a fisherman or a painter.” (Josef Albers, lecture given at Black Mountain College, 24/02/1943)

When Karshan discovered the gridded pattern of the swimming pool at Villa Empain, she instinctively felt ‘it had to be swum’, with the same urge as the Chapter Room of the Abbey, with its perfect proportions, needed ‘to be walked’ during her exhibition at San Giorgio Maggiore, Venice, in 2018.  Karshan’s performance drawings, on paper or in space, happen in a state of exceptional presence. They are guided by her ‘inner choreography’ and aspire to conditions of near-zero gravity.  

Linda Swim II, 11 August 2024 was her first public performance drawing in water. The artist started walking the room where her works on paper were displayed before exiting the Villa for the swimming pool. More information about Linda Karshan