Linda DePalma

About the Artist

Linda DePalma  is a visual artist whose work explores thecomplexities of the natural world through mixed media work and outdoor public sculpture.  Fascinated by botanical forms and biological systems, she creates work that embraces the fluidity and mysteries of nature, reveling in curves and the interlacing plant or cellular forms, immersing herself in the world of plants and insects in her garden. Patterns in plants and nature’s intricacy are a treasure trove of discovery for her.  As a visual artist interested in sculpture and public spaces, DePalma has received a number of public art commissions in the Baltimore/Washington regional area. Shelovesthe idea of a community being surprised - embracing both pride and ownership of sculpture in the public realm. In 2019 she has installed a nature walk gate for Ladew Topiary Gardens and created two benches with plant imagery.Public art is often a challenging collaborative process that she enjoys yet says “it is not for the feint of heart.”  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. 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 cited “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. 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!

Artist's 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.