‘ELECTRO-WOVEN’
CONNECTICUT ARTIST LINDA COLLETTA OPENS WESTPORT STUDIO
Linda Colletta was a notable scenic artist at the age of 19, working in New York City for MTV and VH1. “I’ve been an artist my whole life; both of my parents were artists, so I’ve been painting and drawing since as early as I can remember,” Colletta said. “I went to Parsons School of Design before becoming a scenic painter, doing the backdrops for rock concerts and live televised music concerts.”
After 16 years, she left the music television world and decided to dedicate herself to painting full time. She moved to Connecticut and started doing her own artwork, and has devoted the last 10 years to this endeavor. Today, Colletta has her own studio in Bridgeport at the American Fabrics Art building, and has opened more studio space in Westport, located at 33 Elm St.
“I’m working there, creating work there, but also showing my work,” the mostly self-taught artist said. “I’m an abstract artist, very influenced and interested by abstract expressionism. Some of my early influences were — and are still — Georgia O’Keeffe, Helen Frankenthaler, Jean Michel Basquiat and Sam Gilliam.”
To celebrate the opening of her Westport Studio Concept Space, the artist held a solo exhibition entitled, “Electro-Woven” this spring. This work will be on display at the store-front studio through September.
She describes her “Wovens” show, which explores gendered aspects of weaving and painting, as being at “the intersection of abstract expressionism and fiber art, with a contemporary twist.” Colletta does this by incorporating remnant materials from previous paintings into this new work, producing a collage that blends past and present.
At some point in her career, Colletta fell in love with working on both sides of the canvas, and couldn’t decide which side to should be the front of the final piece. So, she started weaving her paintings together, cutting her large work into 5-foot by 5-foot squares, flipping one side over and weaving them together so both sides would be displayed.
“I paint flat on my table, so I stretch canvas on these very large painting tables, and I layer my canvases four or five deep, pooling my paints, meaning I water down acrylic paints and pour it on to the canvas and let it seep through the layers of canvas,” she explained about her process. “I let it dry and then I peal the layers apart, flip them over and pour more paint.”
She’s been doing this type of art for the past year and noted she loves the labor intensity and unpredictability of the outcomes.
“I love just seeing what happens when one painting infiltrates another painting,” Colletta said. “I never really know how it will turn out and I love that process. On a more philosophical and social level, I love how the painting represents this sense of inclusion.”
Historically, abstract expressionism has always been associated more with male artists, and weaving more with women artists and considered more a craft. Therefore, Colletta feels she is marrying the two art forms together and bringing a stronger voice for women.
“I’m obviously a full-blown feminist and I like the statement that it’s making, and that it’s also making it in a beautiful way,” Colletta said. “It’s not in-yourface. It’s beautiful. We should all be working together and everyone should be important. I’m real excited about that message.”
Another thing she sees in her work is how social media and the digital universe is influencing her work.
“What started out as very organic and fluid paintings, have now been torn and woven back together and look pixelated and digitized,” Colletta said. “That’s very interesting to me.”
She’s hoping that her gallery will help elevate the conversation about abstract art in Fairfield County.
“I’m deeply interested in art history and the evolution of painting and the unanswerable question of, ‘can something new be created? Can I take painting to a new level?’ Which most professional painters know is pretty much impossible. But it’s what drives me. Always seeing how I can push the boundaries and discoveries of abstract expressionism.”
Her art isn’t limited to her studio space. Colletta watched a documentary on Burning Man many years ago, and always wanted to attend. Then a friend attended and encouraged her to go. She described it as being “guided by the values expressed by the 10 Principles. Burning Man is a global ecosystem of artists, makers and community organizers who co-create art, events and local initiatives around the world,” she said.
She’s now participated in Burning Man for the last 10 years (2012-2022), offering two different art projects to the people of Burning Man as a gift to the community.
“I had not painted in over 20 years when I made my first pilgrimage to Burning Man in 2012 and it was that first Burn when I started painting again for the first time,” she said. “My first project I named ‘Burned Alive,’ which is a play on words to express the way Burning Man brought my artwork to life. It is a sort of performance piece, in that every day for all 10 days on the Playa, I would ride my bike to Center Camp and paint there while amongst all the other burners. They were small paintings that were capturing the energies, colors and forms I was taking in every day.”
Her second project she refers to as the “Prayer Stick Project.”
“I designed and fabricated prayer sticks to give out to the people of the Playa,” Colletta said. “The prayer sticks are laser cut slats of wood in the shape of a tall temple whereupon you can write a prayer, a dream, a goodbye or whatever you want. I instruct people to write on the Prayer Sticks and then bring them to the Temple to be burned.”
The project started out with 500 prayer sticks, and grew to 5,000 sticks in 2019. Colletta is hoping to revive it this summer and bring 10,000 this time.
In addition to showing her work at Burning Man, Colletta’s work has been shown nationally at places like Art Market Hamptons, Uprise Art, Southport Gallery, The Affordable Art Fair and The Other Art Fair.
For more information about her work and gallery, visit lindacolletta.com.