Linda Craddock
Mirage:
during Banff Snow Nights and 2025 Exposure Festival - until February 28, 2025
It began with a rose in the snow.
A recognition that everything changes—no longer hidden, yet no longer in existence—defines the atmosphere of Linda Craddock's work. Her art reflects an ongoing exploration of transformation, grounded in the understanding that none of us live entirely in the present. What we perceive as “now” is a fusion of personal and collective experiences shaped by the framework of our current existence. This dynamic interplay defines who we are, and the tension between conscious memory, subconscious memory, dreams, and reality forms the foundation of her work.
The artist seeks to transcend the everyday, exploring an inner world shaped by time and its passage. This pursuit has always been central to her work. She strives to rise above the confusion, drama, and trauma that life inevitably brings, acknowledging that transcendence is no easy task—unless one chooses to allow it.
Her use of metaphor is deeply autobiographical, drawing from personal experiences and rooted in themes of change, the longing for freedom, and the desire to retreat.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Found), 2024/5, mixed media, oil on birch panel, 8x10 inches (20 x25.5cm), $280 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Chance #2), 2024/5, mixed media, oil on birch board, 5x7 inches (12.5x18cm), $240 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer, Nasturtium #4, 2024/5, mixed media and oil on birch board, 6x12 inches (15x38cm), $360 Cdn
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Delphinium #4, Exhale), 2024/5, mixed media, oil on birch board, 14x18 inches (35.5 x 45.5cm), $750 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter - #2 Boxed (#25.25), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 6 x 20 inches (15 x 51 cm), $520 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Pansy And Water Bowl On Bench #25.4), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 12 x 10 inches (30.5 x 25.5 cm), $440 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Chance #1), 2024/5, mixed media, oil on birch board, 5x7 inches (12.5x18cm), $240 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Large Rose) Single #25.12, 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 5 x 7 inches (12.5 x 18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Little Pinks 3 #25.3), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 7 x 5 inches (18 x 12.5 cm), $240 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Scattered #25.11) 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 10 x 8 inches (25.5 x 20 cm), $360 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Float #25.10), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 24 x 12 inches (61 x 30.5 cm), $850 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Tiny White #25.5), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 4 x 6 inches (10 x 15.5 cm), $200 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Glass Chime #3), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 5 x 7 inches (12.5 x 18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Mirage With Two Roses (#25.19), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 30 x 60 inches (76 x 152.5 cm), $4500 Cdn.
Mirage 1 (Exhale #25.20), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 30 x 30 inches (76 x 76 cm), $3000 Cdn.
Mirage 2 (Divided #25.17), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 30 x 30 inches (76 x 76 cm), $3000 Cdn.
Mirage #4 (Spin/Vortex #25.18), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 20 x 16 inches (51 x 40.5 cm), $850 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Hillside Pink Rose), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 7 x 5 inches (18 x 12.5 cm), $240 Cdn.
Evening Garden, Late Summer (Delphinium #25.2), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 10 x 10 inches (25.5 x 25.5 cm), $400 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Man With Small Dog #25.13), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 5 x 7 inches (12.5 x 18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Scattered #2), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 8 x 10 inches (20.5 x 25.5 cm), $360 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Undercover #25.15), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 7 x 9 inches (18 x 23 cm), $320 Cdn.
Crescent: Garden, Early Winter (#25.7), 2024, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 10 x 12 inches (25.5 x 30.5 cm), $440 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Yellow Rose #25.16), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 10 x 8 inches (25.5 x 20 cm), $360 Cdn.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (#1 Lost), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 6 x 20 inches (15 x 51 cm), sold.
Fallen Roses, Early Winter (Broken #25.6), 2024/5, oil mixed media photo-based collage, 5 x 7 inches (12.5 x 18 cm), sold.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston):
Water, at the time of the spring thaw, has many transitional stages - from ice to liquid to mist. This capacity for metamorphosis has autobiographical meaning and is related to the inevitable cycles of life, and cycles within life. The seasons are internal as well as external. The phenomenon of water as it rushes over rock and slowly etches its way into that vertical landscape, reminds me to free myself from the machination of the everyday.
I work with the peripheral light on the canyon water and I manipulate the paint to merge and transform subject and object. What remains is a mirage and as such, a more profound, and personal art form.
I manipulate digital video, still photography, and acrylic paint as the source material for the collage elements on birch board. The final surface handling consists of oil paint and oil glazes.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #2, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x8 inches (15x20.5 cm), $280 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #3, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x8 inches (15x20.5 cm), $280 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #4, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 8x6 inches (20.5 x 15 cm), $280 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #6, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 12x6 inches (30.5 x 15 cm), $360 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #7, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x12 inches (15x30.5 cm), $360 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #8, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x12 inches (15x30.5 cm), $360 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #10, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 7x5 inches (18x13 cm), $240 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #11, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 7x5 inches (18x13 cm), $240 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #12, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 5x7 inches (13x18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #13, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 5x7 inches (13x18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #14, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 5x7 inches (13x18 cm), $240 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #15, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #17, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #18, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #19, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #20, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 4x6 inches (10x15 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #21, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #22, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), $200 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #23, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 14x11 inches (35.5 x 28 cm), $500 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #24, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 14x11 inches (35.5 x 28 cm), $500 Cdn.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #16, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 6x4 inches (15x10 cm), sold.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #9, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 12x6 inches (30.5 x 15 cm), sold.
Canyon Series (Marble / Johnston) #5, 2023, photo based mixed media / birch panel, 12x6 inches (30.5 x 15 cm), sold.
Levitas
Rise to the occasion, transcend the everyday to explore the inner world of time passing and people returning with Linda Craddock's Levitas Series.
I have a heartfelt appreciation of Banff National Park and its position within the collective psyche of all Canadians.
Initially, I chose to reference the popular Gondola rides that carried tourists to the summit of Sulfur Mountain and Mount Norquay. I ventured back in time to the open chair gondola that existed in the 1950's. I drew a female form being mechanically lifted but decided to erase the wires that held the chair, and then I erased the chair, as there was no need to depict the device itself. She ascended, unrestrained. At that moment, my exploration took on an added dimension.
The Gondola is a wonderful metaphor for the spiritual process of “Ascension.” Such aspiration demands an upward force, a motivation to counteract the gravity of life, and here the force is simply that of volition. The downward force of gravity is referenced in the mass provided by the imagery of mountains. The mountain ranges surround and protect, as does the boundary of the National Park itself.
Somehow the Park boundary offers me the security I need to anticipate ascension. As in a lucid dream, all is possible unless a sharp sound or a freakish action interrupt. I require that protected space to both slip through time and to ascend.
“I transcend the everyday to explore this inner world of time passing and people returning. It has always been this way for me. Maybe I want only to rise above the confusion of my dyslexic brain and the drama and trauma life brings. It is no easy task, to transcend, unless I want it to be.”
A man in a suit walks along Banff Avenue while a woman, my aunt circa 1940 rises overhead. Buildings that have been torn down return. Cars and buses reflect the 1950's.
I drift away in the mist over the lake observed by my grandmother, who perhaps sees her own image and not me, floating.
I spend weeks planning each painting. I choose a location and then I ponder: Who will rise to the occasion, rise to the top, rise to avoid, rise to transcend? Does she rise to escape or to discover? I wait for someone to appear. My mother, my aunt, grandmother, a stranger. Myself. Only one painting depicts a man who passes by me, midair.
Levitas: Tributary, Lake Louise, 2023, oil and oil pencil on birch panel, 60 x 40 inches (152.5 x 102 cm), $5000.00 Cdn
Levitas: Woman Rising, Columbia Ice Fields, oil & pencil on birch, 36 x 60 inches (91.5 x 152.5 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Light Incident Cascade Service, Banff Avenue, oil & pencil on birch, 42x54 inches (107x137 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Woman With Sweater, Late Day Sun Over Mt. Rundle, oil & pencil on canvas, 42x54 inches (107x137 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Winter Bridge, Columbia Icefields, oil & pencil on birch, 36 x 60 inches (91.5 x 152.5 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Banff Avenue Madonna, oil & pencil on birch, 48 x 36 inches (122 x 91.5 cm), $4200.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Mary's Parcel, Greyline Bus On Banff Avenue, oil & pencil on birch, 36 x 60 inches (91.5 x 152.5 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Key - Bow Falls, Banff, Alberta, oil & pencil on birch, 36x36 inches (91.5 x 91.5 cm), $3600.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: White Tail Deer, Tunnel Mountain Campground, oil & pencil on birch, 36 x 60 inches (91.5 x 152.5 cm), $4800.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Waiting For The Buffalo, Buffalo Mountain, oil on linen, 36 x 48 inches (91.5 x 122 cm), $4200.00 Cdn...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories.
Levitas: Last Look, oil on canvas, 36x24 inches (91.5 x 61 cm)...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories - sold.
Levitas: Marilyn Over Mt. Rundle, oil & pencil on canvas, 40x40 inches (102x102 cm), ...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories - sold.
Levitas: the 1964 Columbia Icefields, oil & pencil on birch, 36 x 60 inches (91.5 x 152.5 cm), ...LEVITAS - (Latin) meaning levity or lightness...The experience of levitation exists in our dreams and all dreams are based upon our past experiences. A desire to be “free” or to transcend the bounds of gravity also results in our spiritual aspirations and changes the shape of our memories. “These are paintings, in part, of an enchantment with the mountain landscape that transcends the literal monumentalism of rock. Gorgeous (Myrna Kostash, Dec 2022).” - sold.
Hometown Dreams:
Everything changes. Storms bring thunder, lightening, rain. Winter ice thaws. Wind wears down, breaks down. What my ancestors, generations of prairie dwellers, built has disappeared by the force of its very environment and choices made by subsequent generations. Perhaps change is a reprieve, maybe liberation from what has passed. Those who remain on the land or in the old towns carry on and move into a new economic future but I can only see the ghost image and debris of what has been. All is adrift, falling or ascending. I walk down Main Street and experience what is no longer real.
I recall places, buildings, streets, farm houses, elevators, mostly gone. No longer hidden but no longer in existence. The atmosphere is of change, stormy skies over fields. Buildings on Main Street. Old sheds, and tiny homes that housed the old people after they left the farm. The grain elevator, long gone.
Hometown Dreams: Movie Stills: Grain 1, oil on birch, 16x20 inches (41x51 cm), $850 Cdn (ask about pricing on the triptych)
Hometown Dreams: Movie Stills: Grain 2, oil on birch, 16x20 inches (41x51 cm), $850 Cdn (ask about pricing on the triptych)
Hometown Dreams: Movie Stills: Grain 3, oil on birch, 16x20 inches (41x51 cm), $850 Cdn (ask about pricing on the triptych)
“These are paintings, in part, of an enchantment with the mountain landscape that transcends the literal monumentalism of rock. Gorgeous (Myrna Kostash, Dec 2022).”
A native of east-central Alberta, Linda Craddock has been creating art since the early 1970s. Initially working with textile and photography, Linda Craddock now paints with oil on photo-based work. She is an active member of the Alberta Society of Artists.
Her work has been featured in solo and group exhibitions across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and Ontario, as well as in Czech, Poland, and the United States, including the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, the Glenbow Museum, Medicine Hat College, Visual Arts Alberta Gallery, and the Edmonton Art Gallery (now the Art Gallery of Alberta).
A graduate of the Alberta College of Art (now Alberta University of the Arts) and the University of Calgary, she has taught at institutions including the University of Calgary, the University of Victoria, the Western Academy of Photography, and Red Deer College.
I spend weeks planning each painting. I choose a location and then I ponder.
I transcend the everyday to explore this inner world of time passing and people returning. It has always been this way for me. Maybe I want only to rise above the confusion of my dyslexic brain and the drama and trauma life brings. It is no easy task, to transcend, unless I want it to be.
Her work is found in the permanent collections of: The Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, Ottawa, ON.; The Art Gallery of Alberta, Edmonton, AB.; The Alberta Foundation for the Arts; Alberta Culture (Edmonton Law Courts); Pro Arts Society, Calgary; Cantos Music Foundation, University of Calgary, and numerous private collections in Canada, the United States, and Europe.
Education:
1988 - Master of Fine Arts, University of Calgary: Photography
1982 - Bachelor of Fine Arts, University of Calgary: Photography/Drawing
1974 - Art Diploma, Alberta College of Art: Textiles