EXPOSÉ 1 - Linda Bergkvist, Digital Illustrator
Linda Bergkvist, 7 July 2003
Edited by Leonard Teo

One of the digital illustrators whose work stood out and impressed the EXPOSÉ 1 advisory committee is Linda Bergkvist, a freelance artist from Sweden. She has been awarded with two EXPOSÉ awards: Master (Character in Action 2D) and Master (Character in Repose 2D). Linda took some time to chat with Leonard Teo about herself and her art.

About Linda Bergkvist
I was born in Sweden - in Umeå, same city I still live in. My main interests have always been art and language. When I was a kid, I did little but draw pictures and tell other kids long, intricate stories about creatures I had come up with. Sometimes, I pretended these beasts were real and I suppose I spoke of the 'monsters' with such enthusiasm and emotion that a lot of the kids actually believed me. We used to go hunting for a witch in the woods.

When I grew older, I wasn't very sure of myself when it came to my artwork so instead of choosing an art career for myself, I chose language (this after having studied at an art related education between the age of sixteen and nineteen). For some years, I studied English and Swedish and had every intention of becoming a teacher, while on the side, I still doodled and painted. Quite suddenly, I was offered a job by a local computer company and I took it - abandoning my education (perhaps, foolishly) to start working with graphics instead. That's what I've been doing ever since. I miss language studies, however, and maybe I'll go back to that some day. But right now, I'm loving what I do. It's a challenging job and I meet wonderful people all the time.

I work partly as a comic book colourist, partly at the university where I teach Photoshop classes, and partly as a freelancer. All of these things, I enjoy immensely. I have a few personal projects on the side - still painting pictures for a book I very much would like to publish one day.

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Above: Linda Bergkvist with her cat Azrael in Umeå, Sweden. Top: 'Eyreequel', a commissioned piece for Mason Marconi.