Rory Linn is a New Orleans-based artist whose abstract carved paintings explore boundaries of paint and sculpture, building and carving through multiple layers of paint to create textural surfaces that become vessels for light and shadow.
Rory Linn is a New Orleans-based artist known for her distinctive layered paint carvings, a technique that draws on her formal printmaking training at Portland State University, where she earned a B.S. in Printmaking. Working from her home studio, she applies the precision and layered thinking of relief processes to paint, building up multiple layers of paint over several weeks, then carves into them to create textural surfaces that capture the interplay between light and shadow.
The meditative quality of her carving process translates into the viewing experience. As light changes throughout the day, carved surfaces reveal new depths and details, inviting viewers to slow down and connect with something deeper within the layers of paint. Her years of technical carving foundation creates space for quiet reflection and textural surfaces that invite both contemplation and personal reflection.
BIO
Visiting Artist, The Good Shop, New Orleans, LA
The Degas House Art Festival, Degas House, New Orleans, LA
How You Doin’ New Orleans, Arts New Orleans x Merchant House, New Orleans, LA
Layers, Alpharetta Arts Center, Alpharetta, GA
On Neutral Ground, Vestige Gallery, Pittsburg, PA
Untitled Group Show, Old Road, New Orleans, LA
Fishbowl, Blackfish Gallery, Portland, OR
EXHIBITIONS
2025
2024
2022
2009
In a world that demands constant hustle, my work acts as an active practice of rebellion. Each carved line a deliberate choice to slow down and create with intention and intuition. The medium itself demands intention, every cut is permanent. The meditative quality of building and revealing what lies beneath becomes both process and metaphor for what we discover when we choose to slow down.
Without the ability to recall memories visually, they exist as feelings rather than visions. My current pieces begin with a title that captures something I need to explore, leaning into the feelings themselves by creating visual representations of what I can only experience as emotion. I layer paint with this in mind, then carve, letting my hands find what wants to emerge. The surfaces become vessels for light and shadow, creating space for quiet reflection and discovery, while leaving pieces of myself carved into the depths.
My work invites viewers into slowed, mindful observation. As light changes throughout the day, new details emerge and recede, creating an ongoing relationship that encourages return for deeper meaning. These pieces ask us to pause in a world that demands constant motion, and find meaning in simply paying attention.
ARTIST STATEMENT
COLLECTIONS
Carrollton Courthouse, New Orleans, LA
