Artist Statement
My work explores the complexities of the natural world through mixed media work and outdoor public sculpture.
Fascinated by botanical forms and biological systems, I create work that embraces the fluidity and complexity of nature, reveling in curves and the interlacing plant or cellular forms. I immerse myself in the world of plants and insects in my garden. Open and closed forms and positive/negative space are issues that interest me, creating lively plays of light and shadow.
My large-scale public artwork is fabricated primarily in aluminum. I incorporate images of cell structures, leaves, and plant forms. The design is digitally rendered and cut from aluminum using a water-jet technique. Pieces are usually painted with polyester powder coating providing vibrant colors. My smaller scale studio work involves the cutting, sewing and weaving of painted paper and Mylar. In these woven drawings, some parts are pre-determined; others come into play purely by chance. It’s a balance between forethought and the unexpected.
Artist Biography
Linda DePalma (1946 Morris Plains, NJ) is a visual artist whose work explores complex structures through dimensional mixed media drawings and public sculpture. Her mixed media drawings have been exhibited in various venues such as McLean Project for the Arts, Art Basel at the Betsy, South Beach, FLA, Johns Hopkins Evergreen House, and Nepal Academy of Fine Arts, Kathmandu. Installations have been shown at The Baltimore Museum of Art and School 33 Art Center in Baltimore.
As a public art sculptor DePalma has been awarded several well-received commissions in the Baltimore/Washington region. Among her most recent works is an expansive gate at the Maryland Public Health Laboratory in East Baltimore, and three sculptural works (a gate, canopy and bench) at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD. In addition she received an Art-in-Transit commission through the Purple Line for the Riggs Road station.
Public art works often involve collaborating with local governments, landscape architects and architects. This is a challenging process that she enjoys and says public art collaboration “is not for the feint of heart.” Past works include Passage, a sculptural entrance to Jesup Blair Park, in Silver Spring, MD and fountain grates at Baltimore’s City Hall plaza. Ground Play, an outdoor installation at Old Court Metro Station is a Mass Transit Administration commission. RedwoodArch is located at Paca & Redwood Streets in Baltimore. DePalma created Watermark, a large gateway and garden screen for the Alexander House in Silver Spring, Maryland.
A Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Artistic Innovation & Collaborative grant, an NEA Fellowship and a Mid-Atlantic Arts Consortium grant are among numerous honors for her sculpture. She was awarded the Golden Formstone Award in 2015 from Creative Alliance who sited “FORM-idible contributions to Baltimore through the arts” and was also a Maryland Women in the Arts Honoree selected by Maryland Women’s Heritage Center. DePalma co-founded Friends of Public Art, advocating for sculpture conservation in Baltimore, MD.
DePalma has a deep commitment to education. She has been visiting lecturer and workshop leader in many colleges and universities including Maryland Institute College of Art, University of Delaware, University of Maryland and University of Minnesota. As Coordinator of Teacher Services at The Baltimore Museum of Art, she created a program for teachers to use the resources of the museum in their lessons. As Education Director at Creative Alliance, she founded out-of-school time innovative arts programming for Baltimore City youth and is pleased to see these education opportunities vigorously continuing today!