Artistic Process + Identity/heritage
I love to research. I have a BA in Anthropology from the University of Montana, Missoula. I’m primarily self taught, but I credit the great education I received there as well as courses in art, art history, and museum studies as a base on which I’ve built my work. My sketchbooks are filled with both drawings and written ideas that I translate and build into my art. My personal and artistic philosophy is to never stop learning, so my art is continuously progressive as I work to incorporate new techniques and ideas into my pieces while retaining my artistic voice and style. I obsess over tiny details, I want the viewer to be drawn in closer, to see how I’ve played with patterns, space, and color. I choose panels based on the natural wood grain and how it will mesh with and enhance the landscape or subject.
My heritage is a significant part of my identity as an artist. I am proud of my Slavic and Scandinavian roots and I incorporate ancient folk patterns and symbols from the regions my not so distant ancestors called home. In Montana, people like to say how many generations their family has been in Montana. In my family, we like to say how many generations we’ve been in America! I’m a third generation American and my family has raised me with wonderful knowledge of the Polish, Belarussian, and Swedish cultures I come from. I deconstruct and adapt folk patterns from these regions into something new as I draw across the wooden canvas with my pyrography pen.
“My work focuses on familiar Western landscapes, people, and animals but with a playful, abstract twist”
— Abby Lindstrom King
Landscape + Wildlife Inspiration
My inspiration comes from the wild western landscapes of Montana. I’m constantly stunned at the diversity in scenery. I travel to popular and hidden gems in Montana to take reference photographs that I then base my art on. I’m only just beginning to explore the artistic inspiration in my little city of Billings. Every single piece I work on comes from a place I’ve visited, hiked, and explored. It makes me feel connected to my art and grounds my abstract pattern work in reality.
The animal silhouettes are often taken from studies of my own pets or from wildlife I’ve seen when out on my travels across Montana. I also occasionally use my sister’s photography as reference photos for wildlife, I’m thankful every time they send a wildlife shot my way! I love seeing wildlife out in nature at a respectable distance. Each animal has their own unique personality and I try to capture some of that joy in my art.
