Linda Pearl Izan
Crewe, Cheshire, UK
Linda Pearl invites the viewer to engage in a lush, detailed, colour loaded textile setting where initial meaning of the work is not always apparent. The viewer might be seduced by the materials of the artwork; it is however questions that explore where humanity finds itself that is the major drive behind her work. Recent pieces have explored esoteric but important questions, for example, ‘Can Anything Save Us from Unintended Consequences’ and the question of how we truly treat the outsider in the artwork, ‘Shibboleth’.
Text plays a major part in the visual dialogue which connects potently with the use of appliqué, free motion and hand embroidery, digital print and gold work. Much of her work is large banner format, a scale that seems a natural foundation on which to explore themes.
Linda Pearl has a background in education, sculptural ceramics, printing and digital art, skills that inform her approach to her present textiles practice. Through her academic background she guided students towards an understanding of their creative motivation, developing an acknowledgement that an art practice is both a personal development and a collective experience, a connectivity to our understanding of the world.
Photographs: by the artist