Linda M. Montano 2016: An Interview

Linda Montano is interviewed by Janet Dees, Curator at the Mary and Leigh Block Museum, Northwestern University.

Since the 1960s, Linda Montano has aimed to blur the distinction between art and life with her performance and video work. Delving deep into subjects like death, spirituality and personal trauma, she is seen as an influential figure in feminist performance art.

In this interview about interviews, Montano discusses her use of the interview in her work. She describes her piece Learning to Talk as a “sort of Freudian talking cure” in response to her “creative schizophrenia” and recounts evolving from this to interviewing others as a way to curtail her volitional reclusiveness. Montano goes on to describe her impetus for and feelings about inhabiting other personas for her latest video works.