Art
Archive + current work by Linda Ramirez

Photography • Environmental Portraiture • Self-Portraiture • Painting • Music • Poetry

Self-portrait, circa 1998. Shot on 35mm film and later layered in Photoshop. I was experimenting with self-portraiture, memory, environment, and digital collage long before I had language for any of it. Looking back now, I can see how much I was alr

Self-portrait, circa 1998. Shot on 35mm film and later layered in Photoshop. I was experimenting with self-portraiture, memory, environment, and digital collage long before I had language for any of it. Looking back now, I can see how much I was already interested in layering identity — one version of myself inside another, one image living over another. 35mm + Photoshop overlays From the archive.

I Forgot It in the End, c. 1998 Original lyric/performance sheet. Written while I was singing with Misoto Rolira, a band that played around Deep Ellum and Dallas, Texas in the late 1990s. I wrote this after someone I had been dating proposed to ano

I Forgot It in the End, c. 1998 Original lyric/performance sheet. Written while I was singing with Misoto Rolira, a band that played around Deep Ellum and Dallas, Texas in the late 1990s. I wrote this after someone I had been dating proposed to another woman while I was there to witness it. The handwritten notes — slow, turnaround, moderate, pick up, fast — were part of shaping how the song moved emotionally in performance. From the archive.

I began exploring environmental portraiture around 1993–94, using 35mm film to photograph people in the spaces they actually lived in. I was interested in what rooms, objects, posture, and ordinary surroundings could reveal about a person that a trad

I began exploring environmental portraiture around 1993–94, using 35mm film to photograph people in the spaces they actually lived in. I was interested in what rooms, objects, posture, and ordinary surroundings could reveal about a person that a traditional portrait might not. Then for the 1998 apartment image specifically: 1998. 35mm film, black and white. By then, environmental portraiture had already been part of my practice for several years. This photograph was made in a friend’s apartment after a breakup. I was interested in the emotional residue of the room — the clothes, the bed, the posture, the quiet — and chose black and white to keep the focus on mood and environment.

Tangled, 2026 iPhone 16 Pro Max Natural room lighting. No filter. I was sitting with someone I was close to when I noticed the way our bodies had become tangled together — legs, hands, weight, warmth. I was already inside the moment when I realized

Tangled, 2026 iPhone 16 Pro Max Natural room lighting. No filter. I was sitting with someone I was close to when I noticed the way our bodies had become tangled together — legs, hands, weight, warmth. I was already inside the moment when I realized I wanted to photograph it. I’m interested in intimacy that isn’t performed for the camera: closeness, touch, softness, and the way two people can temporarily occupy the same space almost as one form. From my current work.

Self-Portrait, c. 1997 Charcoal on paper Created during a figure drawing course at UNT. One of our assignments was to create a self-portrait. I worked in charcoal, using smudging and erasure to build the image through shadow and light. Looking back

Self-Portrait, c. 1997 Charcoal on paper Created during a figure drawing course at UNT. One of our assignments was to create a self-portrait. I worked in charcoal, using smudging and erasure to build the image through shadow and light. Looking back at it now, I’m interested in how early I was already using self-portraiture as more than documentation — as a way of exploring mood, interiority, and how I saw myself. From the archive.

Self-Portrait, c. 1997–98 35mm photography + Photoshop overlays Created while studying at UNT. I was experimenting with 35mm photography and early digital layering in Photoshop. In this piece, I was thinking about the part of myself that stayed hidd

Self-Portrait, c. 1997–98 35mm photography + Photoshop overlays Created while studying at UNT. I was experimenting with 35mm photography and early digital layering in Photoshop. In this piece, I was thinking about the part of myself that stayed hidden inside — the private self behind the body, the behavior, and what other people could see. The reclining figure feels exposed, while the overlaid portrait becomes almost like an interior presence: another version of me looking out from somewhere underneath. From the archive

In the Studio, September 2005 Spirit House Studios — Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas Recording Hold Me. Earlier, I had been performing with Misoto Rolira, a three-piece that included me, a guitarist, and my then-husband on drums. After my divorce in 2005,

In the Studio, September 2005 Spirit House Studios — Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas Recording Hold Me. Earlier, I had been performing with Misoto Rolira, a three-piece that included me, a guitarist, and my then-husband on drums. After my divorce in 2005, the band changed. The drummer left, and the guitarist and I continued as a two-piece under the name The Vibe. We played around Dallas, including Deep Ellum and Bishop Arts. This photograph comes from that transition — personal life changing, the band changing, and me still making music through it.

Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on canvas During this period I had moved from oils into acrylics and was primarily exploring color, composition, rhythm, and visual impact.

Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on canvas During this period I had moved from oils into acrylics and was primarily exploring color, composition, rhythm, and visual impact.

2026. Environmental self-portrait. Shot on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. When I was learning photography, one of the things I was taught was that the best camera is the one you have with you. In the 1990s, that was usually a 35mm camera. Now, it’s my iPhone

2026. Environmental self-portrait. Shot on an iPhone 16 Pro Max. When I was learning photography, one of the things I was taught was that the best camera is the one you have with you. In the 1990s, that was usually a 35mm camera. Now, it’s my iPhone. I’m returning to environmental portraiture by turning the camera toward myself — documenting my own spaces, body, rest, texture, and quiet sensuality. No filter. The magenta light was actually in the room. The camera changed. The way I see didn’t.

Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on canvas During this period I was working with darker imagery and darker color relationships, exploring struggle, intimacy, alcohol, and disconnection. The imagery isn’t meant to resolve into one literal narrative. I was inte

Untitled, 2012 Acrylic on canvas During this period I was working with darker imagery and darker color relationships, exploring struggle, intimacy, alcohol, and disconnection. The imagery isn’t meant to resolve into one literal narrative. I was interested in the tension between desire, vulnerability, compulsion, and rupture.

Environmental Portrait, c. 2012 My son in our home. I had spent years photographing adults in their environments, but this was one of the first times I consciously turned that approach toward a child — my own. I wanted the room, the television, the

Environmental Portrait, c. 2012 My son in our home. I had spent years photographing adults in their environments, but this was one of the first times I consciously turned that approach toward a child — my own. I wanted the room, the television, the rug, and his scale within the space to be as much a part of the portrait as he was.

Complicated Girl — October 26, 1998 Original lyric sheet, written and performed with Misoto Rolira. I was fiercely independent in my twenties, and this song came out of something I kept encountering: men who were drawn to that independence, but then

Complicated Girl — October 26, 1998 Original lyric sheet, written and performed with Misoto Rolira. I was fiercely independent in my twenties, and this song came out of something I kept encountering: men who were drawn to that independence, but then wanted to control or change it once we were together. I wasn’t interested in being told what to want, what to think, or who to become in order to make a relationship work. They called me complicated. I called it individuality. From the archive

Experiment, c. 2010s Dry-erase marker on office whiteboard I had a whiteboard in my office and started drawing on it just to see what I could do with the surface. I’ve always been interested in making something out of whatever material happens to be

Experiment, c. 2010s Dry-erase marker on office whiteboard I had a whiteboard in my office and started drawing on it just to see what I could do with the surface. I’ve always been interested in making something out of whatever material happens to be available.

Self-Portrait, c. 1990s 35mm photograph Created while I was studying photography. I was experimenting with light, softness, and form, trying to make something less literal and more atmospheric — almost dreamlike or mystical. I was interested in what

Self-Portrait, c. 1990s 35mm photograph Created while I was studying photography. I was experimenting with light, softness, and form, trying to make something less literal and more atmospheric — almost dreamlike or mystical. I was interested in what happened when the figure began to disappear into light and shadow.

Environmental Portrait, 2026 iPhone 16 Pro Max Parks Mall — Arlington, Texas I was on a date when I noticed the person I was with moving through the space. I found myself quietly watching him and became interested in the composition — the way he sa

Environmental Portrait, 2026 iPhone 16 Pro Max Parks Mall — Arlington, Texas I was on a date when I noticed the person I was with moving through the space. I found myself quietly watching him and became interested in the composition — the way he sat within the frame, the lighting, the design elements around him, and the scale of the environment. I photographed the moment as I saw it. From my current work

The Vibe, 2005 With Michael Thompson. Photographed in my parents’ backyard in Grand Prairie. After Misoto Rolira ended as a three-piece, Michael and I continued making music together as The Vibe. We played around Dallas, including Deep Ellum, Bishop

The Vibe, 2005 With Michael Thompson. Photographed in my parents’ backyard in Grand Prairie. After Misoto Rolira ended as a three-piece, Michael and I continued making music together as The Vibe. We played around Dallas, including Deep Ellum, Bishop Arts, and Absinthe Lounge at South Side on Lamar. This was the same year I divorced, and music remained one of the ways I moved through a period of major change. From the archive.

My Sweet Angel — July 15, 2026 Poem written for Taffy. I’ve been writing poetry for decades. I used to keep the words on paper. Now I write on my phone and save them digitally. I wrote this when I realized I was going to have to say goodbye to my d

My Sweet Angel — July 15, 2026 Poem written for Taffy. I’ve been writing poetry for decades. I used to keep the words on paper. Now I write on my phone and save them digitally. I wrote this when I realized I was going to have to say goodbye to my dog, Taffy. The following week, I made the decision to let her go because her quality of life had changed and she needed peace. This was part of how I processed loving her, grieving her, and letting her go. From my current writing.