Becoming Part of Something More

Linda Duvall, artist collaborator

Which is the best part of collaborating with another artist whose work you admire and respect?

Pick a word. Each is the best part.

Linda Duvall is a Saskatoon-based visual artist whose projects focus on how individuals emerge and are revealed within a societal context. In most projects, Linda starts by setting up conditions or a framework and then pays attention to what happens. She has one of the most original minds I know and it’s a fascinating pleasure to be involved with her production.

And in response to one of Linda Duvall’s conversations, I’ve been working on this idea. I made three small paintings, two six inches and one five inches square, and wrote a piece of text. Now, through the magic of scanning and Photoshop, my images have been joined with the words on a panel that will be printed 50 inches high and 24 feet wide. They’ve become more than they were.

I’m one of so-far 22 artists who have responded to Linda’s idea, and the results will be seen for the first time this summer. As we scanned, placed, measured and Photoshopped, Linda showed me three or four of the other artists’ contributions. Such imagination. Such different kinds of imagination. The surface of the panels is beautiful and since they’re plastic they roll up into a compact package, waiting for unfurling and installation and reaction. Reaction will be to each individual piece but also be to the totality of many different artists’ responses. Once again, the works will become more than they were.

This is so far from the way I usually make things. Usually I’m a studio loner. What a transformation it is to become part of a larger whole. Does it mean a permanent change to the way I do things? Probably not. Can I learn and alter nonetheless?

Isn’t that a good question?

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