Patrick Lundeen is an artist and UBC Okanagan instructor from Lethbridge, Alberta. Lundeen spent the first 25 years of his life in Alberta where he studied at the Alberta College of Art and Design. Afterwards, he moved to Montreal and received an MFA at Concordia University. From Montreal, Lundeen moved to Brooklyn for six years to continue his practice, after which he moved back to Montreal for 1-2 years before coming out west to BC. He is currently in his fourth year of lectureship at UBC Okanagan and instructs Advanced Painting and second year Drawing.
Lundeen has always had a penchant for art and creativity starting from a young age: “I think I’ve always been an artist. Even from a very early age. I wasn’t one of those people that can, for example, just naturally draw. I had to work at it. But I’ve always had the mentality of an artist. I’ve just gotten more and more into it over time as I continued moving towards my goals.”
He describes his work as inspired by painting but occupying a 3-dimensional space: “I’m a painter, I did all my studying in painting. But what I make now, even though they’re presented as sculptures, I think of them as paintings that exist in a 3-dimensional space. They also incorporate other things. They have sculptural, physical elements and also sound elements. I like the idea of making a painting that isn’t limited to a picture on a wall but is something that incorporates all your senses.”
Lundeen’s process involves starting with a basic idea and adding detail to it: “Most of the time I have a vague idea of what I’m going to do. In the beginning, the picture is not very detailed, but over time I can get the details.”
Inspirations for Lundeen’s work come from both the visual arts world and other non-traditional sources: “My favourite artist of all time for any medium would probably be John Coltrane. I find his music to be so inspiring, I think of him a lot when I make my work. Also just as a person; I don’t think I’m anywhere near as good of an artist as he is but he’s something I could strive for in terms of that kind of quality and excellence. I listen to a lot of music and that’s maybe been more of an influence on me recently than visual artists. My favourite painter is probably Philip Guston. Another artist that I really like is Cindy Sherman. I think her artwork has a feeling that I try to go for in my work. Additionally, a lot of times I just get inspiration from just walking around and seeing things in the world. Like going to a flea market and seeing a bunch of objects formed together in a way that doesn’t really make sense, but you can find a way to relate them. It gives you a feeling and that’s what I try to get into my own work.”
More of Patrick Lundeen’s work can be found on his website.
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