Linda Webster opens her house for the first time – she talks about the significance of short handled brooms and making friends through AOH
Hi Linda – Welcome to AOH!
Thank you! I’m excited to be opening my house for the first time this year!
Have you ever exhibited as a guest artist in an Open House previously?
I was a guest artist at Encounters Open House in 2022
Linda Burris Webster – China
Can you tell us about your work and how you came to be a photographer?
I came late to photography. Raising children, my job as an education consultant and my fiction writing didn’t leave much time for it. But It was something I’d wanted to learn since I was young. I tried to learn on my own. I’d take photos that I thought were good, but didn’t know how I’d achieved them. Eventually, I found a class that I could manage to attend (well, most of the 6 sessions) and things took off from there! I ended up having one to one sessions with Allan Grainger (the tutor from that class who was a professional photographer) who was incredibly encouraging and also a great teacher. I learned an enormous amount from him, developing my skills, learning about the history of photography and gaining a better understanding of what makes a good photograph. 
Linda Burris Webster – Peru
Your work is concerned with geo-political issues confronting countries and individuals around the world. Can you tell us a little about your choices and decisions in how to represent the issues of each country?
I begin with researching a country. I research the different issues impacting the people of that country, recording them in my sketchbook. Gradually I zero in on the one I want to represent. It’s often an emotional decision. Other times it’s because I have an idea of how to represent a particular issue and just need to identify which country suffers from it (I have a stash of maps in my studio). I also have lists which can be a starting point. For example, I have a list of the countries with the highest levels of deforestation. My sketchbook contains a lot of ideas for possible ‘sculptures’. For example, I’ve recently completed a piece that was inspired by the short handled brooms that are used across the world. I used the idea of this shape to represent violence against women because it is women who use these brooms. And their cries for help are often swept away. However, I’m not sure most people would not recognise the shapes in the image as one of these brooms unless I pointed it out! 
Linda Burris Webster – Greece
You have also produced a body of work looking at the historic silencing of women – can you tell us a bit about this?
I became interested in the use of ‘found photographs’ (old photographs of unknown people) at an exhibition in Berlin. So when I found an online course about different approaches to using ‘found photographs’, I signed up immediately! I’ve also been long interested in the bias, both conscious and unconscious against women, both past and present, which is what I’m trying to represent in these collages. Two big influences in this work have been ‘The Authority Gap’ by Mary Ann Sieghert and ‘Fix the System, Not the Women’ by Laura Bates.
Laura Waldusky – Tulip
You have Laura Waldusky exhibiting with you as a guest artist – would you like to tell us little about Laura’s work and the synergies between you both as artists and friends?
I met Laura when she did an Artists Open House two years ago. I immediately responded to her work. I just love it! We also started chatting – we’re both from the same part of the US – and have since become friends. There’s a definite connection between our work, especially when you see pieces hung side by side. I think it’s the sculptural aspect of both and also the strong use of colour.
Laura Waldusky – Empire
What are most looking forward to and hoping for in opening your house this May?
I’m most looking forward to meeting lots of new people! I’ve visited many Artists Open Houses over the past years and have good friends that I met through them. I’m also looking forward to seeing how people respond to my work and how much I know they’re going to enjoy Laura’s.
Visit Linda Webster’s Open House at:
Bloomsbury Place
10 Bloomsbury Place, Brighton, BN2 1DA
No. 13 on the Kemptown Trail