Linda Karshan

Linda Karshan was educated at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY (1965-67); the Sorbonne, Paris (1967-68); and the Slade School of Art, London (1969). In 1983, she earned a Masters in Humanistic Psychology from Antioch Centre for British Studies, London. Her MA thesis, entitled Play, Creativity and the Birth of the Self, focused on DW Winnicott's theories of transitional space and creativity, which are central to Karshan's artistic practice. Guided by what she calls her “inner choreography,” Linda Karshan makes spare, monochromatic, abstract prints and drawings that serve as direct reflections of the process of their making. Though she began her career producing expressive compositions, in 1994 she developed a performance-based method for making work, in which every mark is associated with her rhythmic and regulated breathing, her counter-clockwise turning of the paper, the motion of her entire body, and the musical way in which she counts off increments of time. Based on her studies of psychology and Plato’s theory that the universe is ordered numerically, Karshan’s method results in iterative images of intersecting lines, forming grids, geometric shapes and patterns, and, sometimes, ordered yet loosely scribbled marks repeating across the page. 

Karshan's solo museum exhibitions include those at Museum Pfalzgalerie Kaiserslautern, Germany (2013); Kettle's Yard, Cambridge (2003); Sir John Soane's Museum, London (2002); and Institut Valencia d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain (2002). Her work has featured in many group exhibitions around the world, including at the Courtauld Gallery, London (2014, 2012); Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin (2013); British Museum, London (2010); Graphische Sammlung, Munich (2009); and Folkwang Museum, Essen, Germany (2008). Examples of Karshan's drawings and printmaking are represented in major public collections around the world, such as the British Museum; Tate; the Arts Council Collection; the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco; Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; and a suite of thirteen prints have been recently acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Linda Karshan is represented by the Redfern Gallery.