Interview with Artist Kristen Link

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Where are you from? Describe your schooling, and the history of your art up to this show.

I was born in Brussels, Belgium (no, my parents aren't in the military) and grew up between there, New Jersey, and London, England. I went Middlebury College in Vermont and completed a double major in Conservation Biology and Studio Art in 2008. I did my senior thesis in art, an installation of collections of screen prints from natural history. I moved to Alaska in September 2008 and spent the winter as a dog handler in Willow, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of my life. That winter I applied to and was accepted at the Science Illustration graduate program at California State University Monterey Bay. I spent the next nine months on the coast of California studying and drawing. In 2010, I returned to Alaska to begin my career as a freelance science illustrator. My first project was to illustrate a series of interpretive signs on the side of the highways in the Copper River Basin. Since 2009 I've been keeping my own field sketchbooks. I began teaching field sketching workshops for the Wrangell Mountains Center and in 2011 served as an artist-in-residence for the Gates of the Arctic National Park. I exhibited my sketchbooks at my first solo show in Talkeetna last fall and received such a positive response that I have been incorporating them more and more into my exhibit work. I showed my sketches again in Cordova last spring, and now in this exhibit, they are the main focus. In March 2012, I received a Rasmuson Individual Artist Project Award to create a body of field sketches in the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is the impetus for most of this body of work.

Where did the idea for "Notes from Nature: A Naturalist-Artist in Alaska's Wilderness" come from?

As I mentioned, in the summer of 2011, I got to be an artist in residence for the Gates of the Arctic National Park. I had such an amazing time up there, and when I was done, I realized that I wanted to design my own "artist residency" closer to my home in McCarthy, and explore the Wrangell-St. Elias. I applied for a Rasmuson Grant to cover the costs of getting into the backcountry, to be able to create art there. This summer I got to fulfill that dream, and spent a couple weeks throughout the summer exploring places I hadn't been before. All the work in this show is inspired by the Alaskan wilderness, and most of it was created there.

What is your favorite piece in the exhibit and why?

Oh, wow! It's really hard to pick. Each piece conjures up specific memories from a different place. Maybe this is the problem with exhibiting your sketchbooks: they're like your children, and it's hard to pick favorites. But if I had to, I'd say a favorite is the sketch "A Handful of Tundra," because it takes a little patch of ground that we are used to seeing and examines it more closely and identifies its components. It is the kind of page that begs the viewer to look closer and learn something. I also love the result of painting with gouache on colored Canson pastel paper. The image seems both rich and old, and as an artist you can work both darks and lights, which is fun.

Can you describe your process for this exhibit? Let's hear about the "adventure" aspect, i.e. being out in the Alaska backcountry, in addition to the artistic process.

The process is very much about being in the field. I should mention that I also work as a guide so I get into the backcountry a fair bit, and I've built up a library of photos and experiences to work from. If I get to go on a trip specifically to do artwork (like I did often last summer) it is more focused.

For this exhibit, I spent nine days exploring the Upper Chitina River Valley. I was by myself the whole time and spent the majority of my days drawing and painting. Depending on the weather, I'd work on landscapes or go for a hike to see what I could find. If the weather was really bad I could bring specimens back into my tent and work from my sleeping bag. Many nights the clouds would lift and the evening light would hit the mountains so I did a lot of quick 20-minute sketches right before it got dark. These are some of my favorites because they are so spontaneous and focused. Even though I basically sit still for hours at a time when I am working on a painting, I haven't had any trouble with bears walking into me (yet), though I did have a mom and three cubs who visited one of my camps. Sometimes if I worked on a painting for a long time, I'd just go for a hike in the late afternoon and clear my mind a little bit. When I'm not drawing I try to take photos and write journal entries. I use all this information and my sketches to create more paintings and illustrations in the winter.

Is there a difference between being a scientist versus being an artist? Does your approach differ when you are being a naturalist as opposed to a scientific illustrator?

This is a good question. The difference between being a naturalist and a scientific illustrator has to do with what story you are trying to tell. There is definitely overlap. I do freelance work as a science illustrator in which people hire me to illustrate a subject, but I also do science illustrations for myself. Usually these science illustrations try to explain some concept like how salmon change as they migrate from the ocean. They are also multi-step pieces of work that require planning.

When I keep a sketchbook I am a naturalist. For me, this is about exploring and keeping a spontaneous, firsthand account of my findings. I dissect things and label them in my sketchbooks, so they cross over into science illustration, but the subjects are about what I found that day. When I am done with my sketchbooks, I bring them into the studio and create illustrations from my notes, drawings, and photographs.

What type of reaction are you hoping to elicit in the viewer?

I hope viewers come out of my show wanting to spend time outside. My work is about my own personal experience in the landscape, and I hope that it teaches people about some of the nuances in nature, but mostly I'd like to encourage you to have your own intimate experience.

That is my main goal, but beyond that, the places where I spend time making art are some of the most special and remote in the world. Because of their remoteness and vastness, many people don't get to see the Wrangell-St. Elias or Gates of the Arctic. I hope my work shares the uniqueness of these places with a broader audience so more people can get to wild Alaska.

How did you get into science illustration?

Science and art were always my favorite subjects. When I was little and told people this, they'd say things like: "Oh, you should become one of those people who draws the posters in doctors offices." When I was little I thought that was boring, but when I graduated from college and was trying to find a career for myself, not wanting to give up science or art, I started researching the field of science illustration and realized it contained everything I love. I'd now gladly draw the inside of an ear, but what I really love is teaching people about natural history.

Who are your influences?

My grandmother taught me to paint when I was tiny. She did watercolor landscapes around her remote cabin in Maine. More important than teaching me to paint was how she taught me to watch nature.

Bill Berry is probably my favorite Alaskan artist. I look through his sketches of animals and feel like I know them better.

One of my teachers in the Cal State Monterey Bay science illustration program, Jenny Keller, taught me that a sketchbook, in and of itself, could be art. For this revelation I am entirely indebted. She also gave me a hundred new ways of interpreting the world around me.

Jenny introduced me to the pages of Hannah Hinchman, who I often refer to as "the natural history sketchbook goddess." She has a creative way of asking questions of the world around her, and is one person bringing the art of field sketching into the contemporary world.

Finally, Kiki Smith is one of my favorite artists. She may not manifest herself much in my present work, but her interpretations of natural history as being part dream, part mythology is near to my heart. Her work is also what inspired me to start drawing from natural history in the first place.

What are some favorite places you've sketched?

It was really special to go down the Noatak River as artist-in-residence for the Gates of the Arctic because the landscape up there is unlike anything I've experienced anywhere else. It is very pure and alive—so many colors and so much wildlife.

I also love working closer to home. Wrangell-St. Elias is kind of my backyard and though I've only spent four summers there, I get to know it a little better every day. This fall I spent a couple days in Upper Martin Creek, which is in the eastern Chugach. It was quite cold and snowed a bit, but the fall colors were prime. I saw wolverine and wolf tracks at this one high alpine pass.

Any other thoughts on having an exhibit at the Alaska State Museum?

I'm thrilled to have an exhibit at the Alaska State Museum. I've never been to Juneau before (except for the 15 minutes I had at the ferry dock) and I'm excited to share my work with a new audience. I've been really impressed with the museum staff and their help and support. This is the first exhibit where I haven't been present when the work was hung, and I'm excited to see what it looks like.