It's time for the second feature of our 'Getting To Know' series, and for this round, we're super excited to shine the spotlight on Linnea Frank, a Swedish artist living in the creative and colourful city of Cape Town, South Africa. She is most known for her unique style of photography, both in fashion editorials and also for her striking yet stunning art prints collection on Drawdeck.

Q: Linnea, for the readers that don’t know you, can you tell us a little bit about yourself? where you are from? and where you are currently based?  

I’m a Swedish artist born and raised in the South of Sweden. I spent 3 years as an assistant photographer, then opened up my own photographic studio in Stockholm where I focused on fashion and beauty shoots. In 2014 I made a huge change in my life, and took everything I owned and moved to Cape Town! I've been living here ever since. I feel my work has blossomed since I moved, mainly because I feel inspired wherever I go in this country.

Q: Could you let us know what goes on in the creative process? 

A: My work is a mix of many elements, which I combine in final pieces. The elements usually include my photography, but sometimes painting media. Content-wise, they vary greatly, but I often want to convey an emotion, so I work from that starting point. It always starts with one element that speaks to me and has sparked a creative process. That might be the eyes or silhouette of a person, someone's hands betraying their feelings in a moment, or honestly, anything. Then it all begins - I create layers of all sorts of different things, adding to the idea. Some pieces are completed relatively quickly; others take weeks or months to fully realise. 

Q: What do you hope to achieve with your art? 

A: I love to see people fall in love with pieces and when they see their own thing in my art, it’s mindblowing, so with that said I hope to have many exhibition all around the globe! 

Q: When did you realize you have artistic talent? And how did it feel when you first sold your art print?

A: Early in my school years, I loved all creative classes, and I think they were my strongest side, but it was not until high school, where I studied media, with photography as a major, that my interest developed into art photography shot on film. I played around with multiple exposures and textures, creating different layered results in the dark room. I didn’t know back then that this love of layers would follow me into the digital world, and today it remains a strong component of my art. Different layers of textures, light and colours; I love the process of post-shoot editing as much as the shoot itself. Wow, the first time I sold an art print… It’s hard to describe, it was really the most amazing and proud feeling I’ve had, and I still get that feeling every time I sell art, especially at exhibitions!

Q: What other women inspire you & why?

A: I’m inspired by every kind of authentic woman, not being afraid of being herself.

Q: Are you an early bird or a night owl? Is there a certain time when inspiration strikes?

A: I was a proper night owl all the way into my late 20s then the South African sun changed that and woke me up early! ;) 
Inspiration can strike me at any time, I think for me it’s just when I get time for myself, with no distractions. 

Q: It’s no secret the last 12 months have been crazy & difficult for so many people. How have you dealt with it? What have been some of the struggles you’ve faced and have there been any positives come out of it?

A: I started a world trip at the beginning of last year, to work from abroad and get inspired by the different countries. Unfortunately, I had to come back after 3-month of the journey. I guess this is the only struggle I had to deal with (insignificant compared to people losing their jobs or dying!).

The positive is that I decided to move to Berlin and suddenly was able to fully concentrate on my art again. I recognized that it wasn’t that easy to find the time to create when traveling. So I had a lot of time and space for creating my new collection. It was the first time in years painting with acrylics.

Q: COVID has cleared and travel is back to normal, you’re given a plane ticket with the destination blank. You get to write the location… Where are you going & why?

A: One destination on my world trip would have been Mongolia. I once saw a documentary about nomads in Mongolia riding through the beautiful landscape. That is where I knew that one of my biggest dreams is to ride a horse through this country.

Q: Would you rather: Get stuck into a good novel, or an addictive netflix series?

A: I have to admit that reading books is not my strength. I just don’t have the patience and get distracted too fast. Also, it feels like wasting my time as I can’t do anything else besides reading. So I prefer watching a series, where I can do something besides, like drawing, editing, replying to emails…

Besides watching Vikings (really addictive), I’m watching a lot of real crime documentaries on Netflix. Currently, I was watching “Athlete A” which is a documentary about girls getting abused in the gymnastics industry.

Q: Favourite artist/album currently to listen to?

A: Delachute.

Q: What other artist(s) do you like on Drawdeck?

A: I really like the vibes that Ruben Ireland’s art is creating.