Linde Ivimey

Biography

Linde Ivimey is an Australian artist who was born in 1965 in Sydney Australia. She obtained a Diploma of Fine Art in both printmaking and sculpture at the Claremont School of Art in Perth. She is known for her figural sculptures made largely of woven fibre, steel armatures, dyed cotton, and animal parts, and depicting human-animal hybrids (animal heads on clothed human bodies). There are recurring motifs in the figures – many bunnies, owls, Siamese twins.

Most of Ivimey's utilised elements come from recycled waste and include remnants from animals she has cooked and eaten. The humanlike creatures allude to many narratives and character types, and are often autobiographical in their references to the artist's life. They oscillate between the cute and the morbid and terrifying, in any case having strong emotional impact and being hard to ignore. In reaction to the criticism that her works are morbid, Ivimey states:

“I can accept they’re a little bit macabre and confronting, but when people say ‘oh, that’s weird, I couldn’t stand that in my home’, I gently remind them that I’m not that keen on floral couches, but if they’ve invited me to sit on one, I’m not going to tell them”.

Constructing these freestanding narrative and surreal sculptures involves considerable manual dexterity with regards to sewing, carving, weaving, casting, taxidermy, and wax manipulation while often focussing on personal, diaristic content. Every object, effigy or reliquary transmits a sense that it is from a place deep within – the body or psyche.

With an interest in body parts such as bones, feathers, teeth, fur, and skin, Ivimey has said that as a child she wanted to be a doctor. Her parents were Catholic and so she also became very interested in the stories linked to different saints, and the connected tales of bodily suffering. This meticulous collection of hers that she then uses in her artworks involve elements of heavily curated collecting and displaying, reminiscent of the works of a collector, scientist and explorer.

In 2013, Ivimey was diagnosed with breast cancer, and hinted at this in her solo show Brave to the Bone at Martin Browne Contemporary in Sydney. One of the sculptures entitled Bandaid Bunny (a self-portrait) appears admitted and sitting in a doctor’s waiting room. Other works related to her experience of depression while ill, with the "black dog" featuring heavily. After the show, Ivimey began cataloguing her work as "BC" and "AD", which she explained as "before cancer and after diagnosis".

Ivimey's recent group exhibitions include So Fine—Contemporary women artists make Australian history, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra (2018); The Gift: Artefacts and Arrivals, Museum of Australian Democracy, Canberra (2018); I Prefer Life: works from the Reydan Weiss collection, Weserburg, Bremen (2016); Discerning Judgment, Supreme Court Library Queensland, Brisbane (2015). The artist has received a great deal of institutional recognition, and is included in collections such as those of the National Gallery of Victoria; University of Queensland Art Museum; National Gallery of Australia; Newcastle Art Gallery; and the Holmes à Court Collection. Her accolades include the Creative Design Award, City of Perth and Challenge Bank; Gomboc Sculpture Award; Design Award, AIDS Council of Western Australia; and the Friends of Dorothy Award for Sculpture.