Biography
Incest, the testimony of an artist
For Linda Litteral, sculpture is a vibrant scream at the indifference of society to the issues of sexual abuse and incest.
The artist is enigmatic: the spirit of a little girl in a adult’s body, in full control of her medium. Her art intrigues, disturbs. To truly appreciate and comprehend its power, you have to go back in time, to the horror of her early childhood.
Born in Jackson, a little town in Michigan, Linda had an older brother, a sister who died right after birth, and two younger brothers. Her father, a truck driver, wasn’t at home that much, always on the road. So her mother took care of the little family with devotion, and helped it financially by doing some market gardening in the land surrounding the family's home. The rest of the family, aunts and uncles, also lived in the area.
The whole picture would seem idyllic, but Hell started early for the young girl. Her grandfather on her mother’s side, who often traveled from house to house to help out, was sexually sick, but no one realized. And when she was three years old, perhaps even at a younger age, Linda became a victim of his molestation. At that age, she loved her grand-father for all the positive things that he brought to their lives, but as soon as he got physically close to her, she would revert inside. This was her primary defense mechanism—even as she was being subjected to his sickness—to put herself in another state of mind.
A TORMENTED CHILDHOOD
The torment continued, and the older she got, the more precise and severe the molestation became. Around nine years old she was raped. Frightened, and incapable of escaping the incest, she continued to keep it to herself. She tried to avoid it from happening, with all of the poor defenses that a little girl could have: trying to be aware of the incoming danger (The Three Faces series), or by seeing no evil, hearing no evil, or speaking no evil (The Three Senses series). She also found refuge in the nearby forest, covering herself with leaves, to remain undiscovered by her torturer (the Woman's torso series). It was only when she started to menstruate, which fortunately occurred early, that finally her torment ended, as she could become pregnant, and the whole ugly truth would be discovered.
However, Linda still lived with her secret. To escape from those painful memories, and her family, she got married at the age of 18. Far too young! Her husband was abusive, and although a daughter was born from this union, three years later the marriage ended. But Linda continued to be harassed by the violent, and possessive ex-husband.
She then decided to escape this situation by moving to San Diego, California, where she found shelter at the home of one of her cousins, an enlisted sailor in the Navy. Not long after moving, she met one of her cousin’s friends, Lance, enlisted as well. Eventually she married this pragmatic, loving, and affectionate man, who admired her without any limits. They still are together to this day, and the support she gets from him is an invaluable aid in the blossoming and fulfillment of her art.
Like any soldier, Lance's job took them to different cities in the United States. While he was on missions, Linda took care of her daughter and the house. She also worked as an industrial tooling and product designer, and continued to study in that field.
THE BIRTH OF THE ARTIST
Out of curiosity, Linda took a ceramic painting class, and her teacher found out right away that she had a lot of artistic potential, so he encouraged her to enroll in sculpting class. Very quickly, the young women realized this was her calling. Art, and sculpture in particular, gave her the outlet she was yearning for, to scream out loud and show the world the suffering of sexually abused children.
It is not, like some would imply, a therapy, for it has been a long time since she opened up about her suffering, to her family, as well as to her husband. She’s at peace with that period of her life now, but wants, through her art, to break the complicit silence of our society, on the issues of sexual abuses and incest. Primarily Linda delivers this message to children and their parents. Mission accomplished, as throughout the numerous exhibitions she has been involved in, people continue to react very positively.
For instance, when people look at the children’s drawings, featured on, or in the sculptures, they realize that they are telling stories, and asking the viewer to discover the why and how of the sculptures. In fact, the dialog between the children and the artist and the parents is triggered by the intermediary of the art, and thus the silence of child abuse is broken.
THE ARTWORK
The first series of sculptures represents, in a primitive way, three faces back to back, featuring a child trying to look out for, and avoid the looming predator.
The following series, in chronological order, named “The Three Senses”, represents a natural mode of self-defense, designed to avoid the mental, and physical suffering of sexual abuse. To revert inward, and close ourselves off to the assault of the external World -- to see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil. She’s not the victim anymore. She becomes insensitive to the horror.
Finally, the Woman’s Torsos series. The nearby forest’s leaves that cover the young girl’s body, become delicate ceramics assembled to create a hollow bust. Other busts depict frail armor, protecting the innocence of the young girl.
And as mentioned, if you take a closer look inside or outside the sculptures, you will discover children’s drawings, featuring a little house, as well as kids playing in the sun, carefree in their purity—a little world filled with joy and tenderness that this talented artist managed to somehow keep in her soul.
May her art, built-up by the tough experience of a heinous childhood, open the eyes and minds of the audience, in order to shine a light upon, and help prevent the horrors of child abuse and molestation..
Interview by Dan Kramer
French text by Renée Hermenjat (journalist, art critic)
Translation by Laurent Kramer & Sean McMullen