In the Studio with Popeye artist Alice Lindstrom
You may already have seen Alice Lindstrom’s latest artwork floating on the River Torrens – now InReview is giving you a deeper look at this talented creative’s colourful career that spans everything from collage to children’s book illustration.
Alice Lindstrom cannot be easily categorised. She is an artist and an illustrator. She works with paper collage, papercut, painting and drawing. She recently redesigned the River Torrens’ Popeye and illustrates children’s books. She is also a mother.
“The most important thing [in a studio] is probably just the ability to focus,” Lindstrom says.
At this point in her life, with two young children – two and four years of age – all she needs from her creative workspace at her home in Cheltenham is a space that’s hers.
“It’s just the ability to have a room of my own,” she says, “to be able to go in there, away from the needs of young kids, and have time to just get into the flow of work.
“Pre-kids, I would have answered differently. Certainly, in the past, I had more aesthetic spaces, like out in the garden and beautiful, big studios, but for now, it’s just a room in the house. And it works.”
Even the path that led Lindstrom to this diverse and colourful career was itself diverse and colourful.
“I did various degrees: a humanities degree, a law degree – I didn’t finish the law degree, but I finished the humanities – a theatre design degree at NIDA [the National Institute of Dramatic Art], Master of Art History.
“My passion was always art, and, you know, I was scared of what that meant.”
Works-in-progress highlight Lindstrom’s colourful practice. Photo: Jack Fenby
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The reason she cast her net so widely, Lindstrom explains, is that she once believed she couldn’t just be an artist or study only art. There was the feeling that it had to be paired with something that was perhaps more stable and predictable – although when she got to the end of her degree she realised she couldn’t actually be a lawyer.
“And so it’s been a bit of a, you know, circuitous route.”
Scattered around her studio are works that, together, form a picture of Lindstrom as a creative. On an easel is a still life of flowers in vases, which boldly and beautifully highlights the sharpness and softness that’s possible when capturing light on a canvas. There is also a pile of flowers made from paper, which will be turned into a pattern design.
“I enjoy working in paper, because it’s got that three dimensionality,” she explains. “It can add a sculptural element and, ideally, it’s like working from an actual flower.”
A vibrant paper cut shows a pattern of a pregnant woman and a child, inspired by Lindstrom’s own experience of motherhood.
“I was really in the midst of it. I had a toddler and was breastfeeding as well,” she says, as she recalls what led her to create this piece.
“During that time, I would just have these images that came to me, either when I was breastfeeding [my son] or when I was lying in bed with him. So I created something about the state of becoming a mother: transformation of self into motherhood.”
A paper cut inspired by the experience of motherhood. Photo: Jack Fenby
On top of this, Lindstrom is currently working on her fourth children’s book.
“Actually, maybe this is my fifth book. I can’t remember!” she says, puzzled yet laughing.
Again this shows how motherhood – and the act of reading books to her own children – has shaped Lindstrom as a creative.
“Now I want there to be more authenticity in this current children’s book,” she explains. “Whereas pre-parenthood, I wouldn’t have had that idea, and I might have been like, ‘I just want this to look really beautiful and pretty’. Now I want the child to be able to recognise themselves in it.”
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Lindstrom says her kids will notice the incidental details of a picture book.
“So, they’ll really pick up on kind of the clothes that the child is wearing, or a background character, or if it’s set at a bakery, exactly which cakes are available at that bakery.
“They really love the storytelling that is beyond the words.”
Lindstrom particularly enjoys working with paper. Photo: Jack Fenby
Her most public work, the recent redesign of the riverboat the Popeye, was unveiled last month on the River Torrens and epitomises this idea of storytelling beyond the words. The design was commissioned by the Ramsay Foundation and partners Guildhouse and Visualcom.
“I initially looked at maps of the River Torrens, and then thought, well, I could extract that serpentine line that the Torrens follows and use that as like a motif throughout the artwork.
“The other big guiding influence was that I wanted to draw from golden hour on the river.
“When I was researching, there were all these beautiful shots of the Torrens in front of the setting sun – vivid oranges and pink shot through – and I thought, I’d love to use that palette.”
The new-look Popeye featuring Alice Lindstrom’s design. Photo supplied
The design also features vignettes of life of the Torrens, including everything from Indigenous flora and fauna to the activities that unfold on the banks of the river.
“Rowers and bicycle riders and children,” lists Lindstrom.
“I wanted it to be something that was accessible to families going on the Popeye, and tourists going on the Popeye, and children going on the Popeye. Something recognisable and something that people could delight in.”
Despite the variety in her artistic pursuits, Lindstrom has a governing aesthetic to her work: one that prioritises expression over realism, has a heightened use of colour, and features juxtapositions of textures and line work. This exists to serve the broader purpose of her associated goal, which is to incite or communicate emotion.
“A successful work for me is if I have captured a feeling or conveyed a feeling.”
Alice Lindstrom’s passion has always been art. Photo: Jack Fenby
In the Studio is a regular series presented by InReview in partnership with not-for-profit organisation Guildhouse.
Read more about Alice Lindstrom’s practice on the artist and illustrator’s website.