Shana Nys Dambrot
The unconventional duo of Inksap and Linda Lack, PhD hail from radically divergent backgrounds, cross-pollinating to create art that neither one would have created alone. A renowned expert practitioner of mind-body connectivity and dance-based movement meditation and street artist with an activated narrative consciousness about the way a life and a city can express themselves in portraits and public spaces. A new documentary film unpacking their unique collaboration debuts this week amid a visual installation environment specially made to amplify their creative relationship.
Linda Lack & Inksap (Photo by Stuart Paul)
L.A. WEEKLY: What is your short answer to people who ask what your work is about?
LINDA LACK: I’m a dancer/choreographer. That means I draw in time and space, and I have done that on all kinds of canvases: stages, dirt in the wilderness, asphalt parking lots, etc. I care deeply about socially conscious art. I have also spent my life dedicated to the study of the human body and have created a contemporary movement training and therapeutic healing technique called The Thinking Body — The Feeling Mind that reveals universal truths about the human body, alignment, movement, and breath.
INKSAP: I am Brandon Lam, an artist who creates works of art that can be found on the streets and in galleries. My art melds the lines between various intersections: Vietnamese culture and patterns, nomadic cultures, environmentally conscious artmaking, life drawing and screen-printed images of family and friends. My repertoire of work provides a public platform for art that anyone can access.
When did you first know you were artists?
LACK: I knew I was born to move ever since I was 5 years old, and I’ve been doing it for over 70 years one way or another.
INKSAP: I knew I was an artist when I built a K’NEX set without the instructions early in elementary school.
Linda Lack & Inksap (Photo by Stuart Paul)
Did you go to art school? Why/Why not?
INKSAP & LACK: Real world experience is just as valid as a formal education — but to answer, Linda has graduate degrees in Performance and Choreography, and Movement/Education/Healing. Inksap did not attend art school but was mentored and trained by distinguished artists. They — Inksap in his 20’s, Linda in her 70’s — bring to the moment substantial and expansive experience that challenges us to escape beyond the boundaries of ourselves. To put it plainly, old dog teaches young dog new tricks; young dog teaches old dog new tricks.
Why do you live and work in L.A., and not elsewhere?
LACK: L.A. gets a bad rap. I love Los Angeles. It is the home and birthplace of my unexpected meeting with Inksap. Where else would I get to intersect with him, the unhoused, the public and the tourists who see our art, the university population, the “highfalutin” art world, the yoga community, dancers, writers, medical professionals, healers, and the rest of the diversity of the Los Angeles community?
Linda Lack & Inksap (Photo by Stuart Paul)
What artist living or dead would you most like to show or work with?
LACK: Inksap.
INKSAP: Linda Lack.
Do you listen to music while you work? If so, what?
LACK: I appreciate silence. Sometimes I listen to the voices inside of my body, and I like my gigantic singing bowl.
INKSAP: I listen to my thoughts and my anxieties as I work. They both motivate and inspire me.
When is/was your current/most recent/next show or project?
LACK & INKSAP: Our next show is The Chance to Paint Each Other Gold. It is a multi-layered performance experience centered around an installation of the shared street art and subsequent wall art created by Inksap; the world premiere of Stuart C. Paul’s new documentary Ink & Linda followed by a Q&A; and a live and intimate demonstration revealing our artistic process. The dates for this show are March 5-6 and 11-13 at the Helm’s Design Center in Culver City. Then On Thursday, March 24 the film will launch Dance Camera West’s 20th season at 2220 Arts & Archives (formerly the Bootleg Theater).
Website and social media handles, please!
Ink & Linda: inkandlinda.com
IG: @inkandlinda
Linda Lack: lindalack.com
FB: TheThinkingBodyTheFeelingMind
IG: @linda_lack_phd
Inksap: inksap.com
IG: @Inksap_
Stuart C. Paul:
IG: @Hyakprods
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.