ALL IMAGES AND TEXTS ON THIS WEBSITE ARE UNDER COPYRIGHT BY LINDA DEMPSEY. © 2021.
Biography:
Linda Dempsey is a visual artist working in encaustic, painting, drawing, and mixed media. She earned her BFA in Illustration from Southern Connecticut State University in 1985 before moving to Manhattan, where she spent many years immersed in the New York art scene while working in illustration, fine art, and teaching.
After relocating to Newport RI in 2007, she discovered encaustic painting and began exploring the expressive possibilities of wax and mixed media. During this time, she attended Salve Regina University, where she received certification in Art Therapy. In 2013, she moved to New Bedford and earned a Master’s Degree in Art Education and Studio Art from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. While there, she maintained a harbor-side studio and exhibited work at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and other local and regional galleries.
Dempsey currently lives and teaches art in New Haven,
Please contact me at www.lindadempsey.com for information on original art or prints.
Artist Statement
My work sits at the intersection of beauty and disruption. I’m drawn to moments when a familiar figure or landscape begins to fracture, when something ordinary reveals a darker or more complicated undercurrent.
I work primarily in encaustic, layering hot wax and pigment to build surfaces that can be fused, scraped back, and reworked. The process is physical and unpredictable, allowing images to emerge through excavation as much as construction. Light moves through the translucent wax rather than sitting on the surface, creating depth, tension, and instability within the image.
While the work often appears atmospheric or serene at first glance, it is rooted in unease. Recent pieces respond to the accelerating environmental damage unfolding around us—from collapsing ocean ecosystems to the disappearance of bees and butterflies and the push for Arctic drilling. These subjects carry both beauty and vulnerability.
The work reflects that contradiction: surfaces that attract you, and realities underneath that are harder to face.
Current shows and exhibits:
The Local Gallery, New London, 9/25
Kehler Liddell Gallery, New Haven Ct
Hygienic Art Gallery, New London, Ct
Naumann Gallery Branford, Ct
Past shows and exhibits:
The Whaling Museum. New Bedford MA
Gallery 4. Tiverton, RI
The Barn Gallery. New Fairfield CT
Deblois Gallery. Middletown RI
Bailey Gallery. Dartmouth MA
New Bedford Regional Airport Gallery. New Bedford MA (Commission)
New Bedford Art Museum. (2018)
Star Store UMass Dartmouth 2018
Grimshaw Gudewicz Art Gallery. 2017
Newport Art Museum. 2015
Spring Bull Gallery Newport RI. 2010-2018
Bristol Art Museum, Bristol, RI. 2019
Prince St Gallery NYC. 1999-2005
First Street gallery NYC, 2008
Rivington Gallery NYC. 1995-2000
Art Space New Haven Ct. 1989-1995
City Gallery New Haven CT. 1987-1998
Publications:
Thesis: Social Justice Art Education and Personal Practice: Teachers who do Both.
Presented at National Arts Educators Association Annual Convention, Seattle, WA. May 2018.
50 Markets of Illustration, by John Roman, 2014. Published.
Memberships:
NAEA: National Arts Education Association.
MAEA: Massachusetts Art Educators Association.
SCAA: South Coast Artist Association.
RICA: R .I. State Council on the Arts.
CAA: CT Arts Alliance.
