Linka Behn

 I have always drawn. I will draw on napkins with a dull pencil from the bottom of my purse. I will tear off a 

 chunk of the paper table covering, ‘steal’ a child’s menu, flip to the back of a receipt and draw. Its as natural as a sneeze and as uncontrollable... I have to respond. It is as compelling with painting.

I am interested the world we create: upon the canvas, and in our lives. We make interpretations in the world in which we live, as well as within the painting I create. We choose to give emphasis to some elements and dismiss others entirely, reading meaning into this portion, and granting no meaning in that. In the process of this deciding- we create our own reality.

I paint to music. Music, quickly followed by dancing. Music that rises slowly to a crescendo, music with a heart beat, music with a minor key. Chamber music- flute, cello, harp violin. Flamenco- guitars, clapping hands, steady heels keeping beat. Acoustic stripped down coffee house music, world music with instruments and beats I cannot identify, symphony with full orchestra filling my very soul, a sad haunting bluesy harmonica or Japanese flute that floats to my ears. I move to all. 

I am interested in that thread of commonality among women: our strength, beauty, intensity, determination, our silent language. Silent language, spoken through the body, through deliberate movement connected to emotion and thought, attitude expressed in the tilt of the chin, the erectness of the torso, the relaxed form of the body- language spoken by the body. I am continually drawn to the figure as vehicle for expression, through painting, sculpture, photography, representing the form or parts of it on canvas, paper, found art, bas-relief, assemblage.

I believe there is an innate communication within, sometimes silent, beyond language, beyond location, beyond generations. I believe there is a core ribbon that runs from one woman to another, that if we are open to its presence, overcomes differences in lifestyles and circumstances of connection. I am fixed on that relationship, the connections between women: mother to daughter, friend to friend, mentor to seeker, lover to lover, sister to sister.

Painting is illusion. What will our eyes believe- what will trick the brain? If there is a bit of something familiar, the memory of another will fill in the blanks. What ‘looks like”? One looking will find the answer... Always. We do that- we find meaning- all that must be done is to give something to hang meaning on. We will find there. In clouds, in tarot, in faces. We seek and look for- pinning to the past of what we have learned, comparing then to now, us to them, finding ourselves and our stories within. 

I react to strong women, painting and observing them, capturing essence. We, as women, are the glue and strength of society. I want to be part of that definition, through images, spoken word, written word and shared experiences, that define our power. I paint me. Strong, watcher, lover independent. Refusing to be inside the box, defined, mother, Southern woman, feminine, feminist.

Linka is currently working on her MFA.