ASTORIA — Known for evocative abstraction, native-born Astoria artist Linden brings an exciting collection of work for her first show at Imogen. This series of paintings, “Conveyance,” is Linden’s own exploration of process and experience. Allowing elements of daily life to be interpreted through brushstroke, she tells a subtle story of existence.

The exhibition opens Sept. 13 with an artist’s reception from 5 to 8 p.m. during the Astoria Second Saturday Art Walk. The show will remain on display through Oct. 7 with a closing party held from 5 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4. All are invited to attend both events, Linden will be available to answer questions about her work and process during the opening and closing receptions.

Linden conveys thought and idea through abstraction, allowing her the freedom to thoroughly explore the visual language by reducing known forms to suggestion. Her goal is to allow the viewer to participate in her process of analogy and perception.

For this series, she asks the audience to interpret “conveyed” concepts taken directly from her own experiences.

“This body of work has evolved organically in the same way a symphony or movie script would,” she says. The way she works as an artist, her moods, her personal history and the nuance of meaningful occurrences in daily life are carefully conveyed. Her goal in this series is to take the viewer to an altered reality, “somewhere new and exciting, a place maybe you’ve never been before. To do that I will ask you to spend some time looking at and into each piece to let it unfold for you.”

A direct result of this approach to painting is a less-than-uniform body of work. Linden’s painting skills are evident, but the overall style of paintings in “Conveyance” is contrasting and at times contradicting. Her paintings display a fresh boldness that seem to jump from surface, while still honoring past influences and input. She has successfully put together a collection that is not tied to one premise, but instead shows great confidence in growth as a painter. Some of the work created for this series was born of personal limitations, complications that the artist had to paint through.

Beginning her studies at Clatsop Community College, Linden sites instructors Royal Nebeker and Roy Garrison as instrumental in her development as a fine artist. She continued her studies at Pacific Northwest College of Art, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Art degree, focusing both on painting and sculpture.

Relocating to the Bay Area in the late ’90s, Linden continued her career while also teaching. In Benicia, California, she founded a school dedicated to the education of all fine art practices for all ages. Linden opened the school under the premise that “the innate creativity that we have as children isn’t ever really lost. It just needs to be fed so it can blossom.” The Linden Tree is still in operation today with the same mission.

She has exhibited throughout the Northwest as well in further locales, including Chicago. She began her local exhibition career at the former Ricciardi Art Gallery in 1996. Some of her accomplishments include a Juror’s Award for sculpture created for the 2003 Journey’s End International Art Exhibition held at Clatsop County Heritage Museum. She was also most recently juried into the 12th Around Oregon Annual exhibition held at the Art Center in Corvallis by Martha Lee, director and owner of Laura Russo Gallery in Portland. Her work is included in the permanent collection of Clatsop Community College, Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Astoria Public Library.

Imogen Gallery is located at 240 11th St. For more information, call 503-468-0620 or visit www.imogengallery.com