THOUGHTS
Linda Petersson Ödbring
Working process
I have a documentary approach, working with photography, installations, paintings and video, often in a conceptual way. I take a documentary approach to my practice exploring the space of the archive and history, searching for lost and alternative histories.
The green power of nature and the wisdom of nature - ”A pilgrimage in the footsteps of Hildegard of Bingen” The research of discover Hildegard av Bingens landscape and home arena, took part in spring 2022 in Germany.
The projects started in 2020 with research, performance and various collaborations between musicians, artists, singers, and different prayer groups. Hildegard received a vision that she would write down her thoughts and visions. Hildegard is not writing for her own time but for posterity, for the time "when the air cannot be breathed and the water cannot be drunk". I connect her texts to the present and experience them more current than ever. I am trying to connect with Hildegard and to approach my art and be in her context regarding nature and her prophetic texts.
My video work The Green Power is about slowing down. What happens when you take the time to meet a bumblebee. Listen to what she has to say. I saw and heard Hildegard through the bumblebee.
I have always been fascinated by nature/animals listening to it/them. It is one of my biggest sources of inspiration. My work are often about the divine in nature and getting in touch with the intuitive, whether I paint or work digitally. To trust the drive.
Linda Petersson Ödbring
John Carberry talks to Linda Petersson Ödbring about her creative process
Talking about the process
The conversation was held as a Zoom meeting on February 12th 2024. Following transcription has been slightly edited for readability.
John Carberry (JC):
I remember looking at your paintings before, and I noticed you use this lemon yellow sort of color in the sky. It’s interesting because I've seen photos from you and from Johanna (Karlin), and the sky does turn that kind of lemon yellow color where you are. That’s very unusual. I don’t really see that elsewhere.
Linda Person Ödbring (LPG):
But you don’t see that color here.
JC:
No, not really. It’s usually cloudy and overcast. The sky is usually gray, and if it’s not gray, it’s really, really blue. Sometimes it’s red and orange because of the sunset.
LPG:
Here, because it’s often cold, I think the pink colors appear very often.
JC:
Okay.
LPG:
It can be yellow too, but it doesn’t have to be authentic for me. It’s not the authentic nature I want to show. My intention is to create a strong feeling and a powerful respect for nature and the landscape, and to express the force of nature. That sounds really... (big laughter). Shouldn't we talk about smart things? So, what are you drinking now? I’m drinking very strong coffee.
JC:
I haven’t been drinking much. Pretty ordinary coffee, because it’s late. If I drank a coffee, I’d be awake for the rest of the week.
No, I don’t think that’s dumb. I think it's great that you succeed in what you’re trying to do. Your paintings have a dramatic quality with the sky and everything, not just a descriptive view of what it looks like.
LPG:
And your painting is almost like time and space. It doesn’t feel like it’s... it’s not there anymore. It’s just me and the painting. It can be very dramatic or very calm, depending on the state of mind.
JC:
I think so. That’s a big factor in your work, how you’re feeling. So, what else did I want to ask you? We could talk about your process a little as well. I know from talking to you over the years, it has been years now, which is good. Wasn’t it 2002 that we had the exhibition in Sweden?
LPG:
Didn’t we celebrate an anniversary or something?
JC:
Well, I guess we can do that.
LPG:
We should have a party.
JC:
You’ve distracted me with party ideas. I was going to say something smart.
LPG:
Oh, sorry. Sorry!
JC:
So, your process. We've known each other for a while now, and you do a lot of research. You talk about Hildegard of Bingen a lot. It seems like your research informs your work.
LPG:
I often work with history, searching for lost stories and alternative histories. I found Hildegard of Bingen, a nun in Germany. I’ve been working with the green power of nature and the wisdom of nature, and I did a pilgrimage in her home area in Germany. Initially, it was all about her, but now it’s about myself as much as it’s about her. I paint landscapes while thinking of her words and hymns. Now, my work is more about nature, especially when nature has been destroyed and you can’t drink the water, forcing you to think in other ways. Her texts about the environment made me want to create my own kind of hymn. It started with her, but now it’s about me too.
JC:
That’s great. When was she around, the 11th century? Quite a while ago.
LPG:
I’ve been inspired by her daily work. For example, in the summer, I make my own herbs and medicines. She had a special medicine for insomnia and anxiety, which she called nerve cookies.
JC:
That sounds fun.
LPG:
They have a lot of cinnamon. I baked them a few years ago, and they were quite good and tasty. Her recipes have been preserved since she wrote them down. She was very smart and politically astute.
JC:
She was clever, dealing with all the men in the church. She was good at tricking them into doing things.
LPG:
Exactly. She would say, “I’m only a woman, so I can’t figure this out, but maybe you can help me.” She was very smart and knew how to gain power in a scary world for women. If you had visions, you could be burned as a witch. It’s hard to be a woman, even now.
JC:
Yes. That leads us nicely into your video with the smoke. That was about the bumblebee, wasn’t it?
LPG:
It wasn’t your first time working with video, was it?
JC:
I remember you saying that when we were planting things, you mentioned it wasn’t your first video. I've seen some of your other works now.
**LPG:**
I had been working with video for a while but took a pause after the dance video you saw. I was at our summer house near the ocean, a simple two-room house. My kids are teenagers, and sometimes I need time off. I was in the bathroom and started to hear a low bass voice. With Hildegard’s text in my head, I wondered what the bumblebee was saying. It was like a mental coach. It sounds crazy, but I love following my imagination to see what happens.
JC:
And it’s a lot of fun too.
LPG:
It’s not important if it’s true or not. It’s like playing.
JC:
You need to have some fun sometimes.
LPG:
I don’t know if it’s my inner voice or what, but the bumblebee was teaching me things I needed to hear. I started writing things down, thinking it could be a video work, a calm, meditative piece. I saw the curling smoke as a visual image, and I did many recordings of it. You see the smoke but not its source. I couldn’t control it, but some parts turned out better than others.
JC:
It’s an interesting work. It’s easy to have lots of things happening in a video, but yours is a meditative piece. It fits with your words.
LPG:
I wanted a slow, meditative piece. Initially, I wanted text in the video, but Gustav (Hellberg) suggested just hearing the voice. It was first in Swedish, but now it’s only in English with no text.
JC:
That’s why I like having words in my moods. People don’t need to know English to understand. It’s like silent movies, which came from diverse places. The storytelling is in the pictures.
LPG:
I agree. I thought about it for a few days and understood what he meant. It’s much better without text. You don’t need extra stuff in your work; it gets in the way.
JC:
Exactly. Your paintings and video work are about the same things—nature and respect for it.
LPG:
I think so too. Even though they are different, all my work feels connected. The dance video in the hydroelectric plant and the smoke video share themes with my paintings.
JC:
They do. All your work feels like you made it, even if it’s different. It has those themes, which is good.
LPG:
I work with different themes. When I was at the Royal Academy, I did a project with a dog whisperer. I’ve lived with animals my whole life. The project was a sound work where the dog whisperer translated what my dog thought about our life together. I took photos and did an interview with my dog through the whisperer. The bumblebee project feels similar, but now I don’t need a translator.
JC:
You’re fluent in bumblebee.
JC:
We only have 10 minutes left. Is there anything you want to say that you haven’t yet?
LPG:
My paintings... It’s a little disturbing because I love a Swedish painter, August Strindberg. He’s been dead a long time. You must Google him. He was a difficult man, not family-friendly, but I love his paintings. They’ve been a huge inspiration for me. You can Google August Strindberg.
JC:
Wasn’t he also a playwright and novelist?
**LPG:**
Yes, he was a writer and an artist. Eccentric is a small word for him. He said some horrible things about women, but his paintings are dramatic and powerful, which inspires me.
JC:
It’s a shame. Sometimes it’s best not to learn too much about people from the past. They often had awful views.
LPG:
Yes, just look at his paintings.
JC:
They are quite nice paintings. I don’t like his hair, though.
LPG:
It’s almost like he painted with his hair. His paintings are curly like his hair. In my paintings, I love the curly, eternal symbols.
JC:
It is impressive hair. I’m drawn to it.
LPG:
You saw his paintings. Sarah told me about Turner, the English painter, but Turner is more polite and romantic.
JC:
Mike Leigh made a film about Turner. He wasn’t as nice as people thought, but he invented public museums by giving his work to what became the Tate.
LPG:
Strindberg had a darkness I relate to. His paintings
are rough, not well-painted.
JC:
It’s good to have rough edges. There’s no point in something being perfect; it doesn’t add anything.
LPG:
I agree. Roughness and imperfection make it human and alive.
JC:
It’s been great talking to you. Thank you.
LPG:
Thank you.