We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Lindsay Mueller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Lindsay below.
Lindsay, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I’ve known for longer than I can remember that I enjoy making art, but the process of deciding to do this professionally has been somewhat incremental for me. I’m a planning-oriented person, which can seem at odds with an artistic career given there is no single pre-defined path, but each year I believe I can pursue what I want a bit more seriously, and set some new goals to work towards.
As for how this path has looked, after high school I decided to enroll in a dual-degree program studying painting and psychology. I saw this as a way for me to learn more about painting while studying something else, although at the time I didn’t know I could have a career in art-making. I didn’t know many artists growing up, none that financially supported themselves or made art as more than a side endeavor.
Once in college I was fortunate to meet so many great role models, and I could start to see how people lived as artists in a more practical sense. I really loved my painting community at Boston University, and knew I wanted to be in the art world after graduating. This said, I still didn’t see myself being able to grow into where my role models were, so I worked in arts education and administration for a few years. During this time I met more artists and realized that I might as well try to do exactly what I want – be an artist myself. Consequently, grad school was really eye-opening for me, reminding me how much I love talking with people about art, and allowing me to see myself in arts spaces while figuring out some concrete next steps.
I’m definitely not an all-at-once decision maker, but I like having to re-commit to and expand my goals periodically, allowing them to grow with me. Every few months I realize “Actually, I think I can do that now,” as I find new opportunities and ways to grow. The art world is quite large and diverse, and there are many ways to engage in it which is both exciting and confusing at times. Of course, I am still figuring things out slowly, but I am really grateful that I’m able to be an artist right now.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hello! My name is Lindsay Mueller and I’m an artist based in Arlington, Virginia. I work primarily in painting, often using sculptural materials to build texture beneath the surface of the paint. My work often reflects on interconnection, decay, and ambiguity in landscape, as I consider human relationships, including my own, to outdoor spaces.
Most recently, I’ve been interested in the sheer abundance of visual information that exists outdoors, and how a confluence of forces shift communal spaces, such as parks and roadsides, over time. Sometimes these changes can be small, such as leaves breaking down and blowing in the wind, and sometimes quite large, such as trees falling. At times human-caused, at times seasonal or weather shifts, all of these changes get recorded in the various debris that scatters parks.
In my recent paintings, I’ve been thinking about this debris, looking down at small encounters and focusing my paintings on that specific subject. I find it really interesting to marry these specific moments to the textural surfaces I’ve built them upon. When creating these paintings the sculptural part comes first, and I use plaster and paper clay to trace ephemeral information in low-relief into the surface of the work. So afterwards when I’m painting, I find that this sculpting process gives the paint something new to contend with, and emphasizes the layers of interactions in nature.
Outside of painting, I teach classes in the DC area and manage a residency program for recent graduates in Alexandria, VA. Currently, I also have an exhibition at Adah Rose Gallery in Rockville, MD. I really enjoy being part of an artistic community and am happy to have found that here in the DMV.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
A lot of what I do is about processing the world around me, finding points of connection to what I see and challenging myself to emulate the complexity of it all. I’m fascinated by the abundance of all there is to understand and observe in nature, yet how small moments of change break our expectations, and call our attention. Making work primarily about a park close to my home, I’m able to see things shift, and hold particular moments as special or new. Often my work is dense, yet airy and lively. I think this often reflects my experience of seeking a respite in nature and the challenge of perceiving our world accurately amid personal projections of emotion and experience.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
Artists are so deeply important, influencing our collective culture, supporting communities, and envisioning new ways of thinking for our future. I live in the DC area, and things are hard for so many right now after unexpected job losses and vast defunding, among other country-wide change. While none of us can do everything, supporting people that push toward a world we want to live in can be a small action that is impactful. Artists often love their work, but they also have living expenses like everyone else. By financially supporting an artist whose ideas or mission you care about, you enable them to continue working while giving a voice to a valuable issue/community/idea. Support can come in many ways (buying an artwork, giving space/resources for a project, donating to artist residencies/grant programs), but in whatever form it comes, it is critical we recognize the important role that artists serve and are generous to the people we care about so that they may continue on.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.lindsaymuellerart.com
- Instagram: @lindsaymuellerart
Image Credits
Artist Image – Matt Lien
Artwork Images – Pete Duvall