A Conversation with Lina
Culinary Art & Creative Freedom
Lina is not your typical chef. As a multidisciplinary artist, she blends Spanish warmth with Swedish minimalism to create "Dine & Draw" experiences that bridge cultures. We sat down with her to discuss her 12-year journey in France, her holistic approach to cooking, and why "waiting for a project to blossom" is the secret to her success. Dive into the interview to explore the intersection of art, nature, and flavor.
Hello Lina, how are you? Can you tell us a bit about yourself, who you are, where you’re based, and what you do?
Hello, I am very well and hope you are too, thank you so much for having me :)
My name is Lina, I am born and raised in Sweden, half Spanish and half Swedish, I’ve lived in France since 2012, based in the Bask Country.
I am curious, have a love for beauty and adventure and have been passionate about crafting and creating as long as I remember. My mum let me play in the kitchen when I was around seven years old, and my first recipe was something like cacao powder, with water and sesame seeds, ahah, so I think that’s where it started...
I work in culinary and visual arts and my projects can include all from private dinners, event catering, creative food installations, to making books, drawings, and other crafts depending on current desires, season and clients projects.
You describe yourself as a multidisciplinary artist and creative cook. How do you seamlessly blend these diverse interests—cooking, painting, writing, and handcrafts—into your work?
I have always appreciated detailed gestures that weave senses, meaning, beauty and quality together. Rather than separating my passions they naturally fuse together in my projects. In my cookbook (published 2018) I combined recipes with my collages and drawings of recipes. For me, food and art are both languages that evoke emotions, creating connections and telling stories beyond words. It's this sensory exploration that inspires me, allowing me to cater to clients who resonate with my values and perspective. I believe that the essence of what I create lies in the stories and experiences that unfold through each project.
Your Swedish and Spanish heritage, combined with your travels, clearly influences your art. Can you elaborate on how these cultural influences manifest in your creations, particularly in your culinary and visual art?
I think my creative expressions are deeply shaped by the landscapes and atmospheres of the places I explore. Especially when I engage with new environments, I find a source of inspiration that encourage me towards creative openness. Always with my Kodak camera and a notebook that helps me capture the experiences, it’s a way of observing and documenting the beauty of different places and cultures that inspires me for my next projects. Growing up in two cultures that are quite the opposite of each other, I found my own creative language mixing the quality of both my heritages, and passions. I think what influences me most is that food and art is a universal language that can be translated in any country and culture.
You mention creating 'immersive experiences and stories.' Can you give us an example of a project where you combined your artistic and culinary skills to create an unforgetable experience?
One of my projects is Dine & Draw, it is an event where I invite the participants to be a part of a collective drawing experience during a shared meal. First one we did on Jeju island in South Korea together with OFR.
My last Dine & Draw was in Brazil in February, hosted at the atelier of Estefania Verreschi, a parfumer and aroma expert. We combined our universes, created a thematic atmosphere that invited everyone in a sensory experience celebrating the beauty of Brazil.
The work behind this project is very fulfilling. It allows me to create the environment and express myself through cooking and art, but most beautiful is the collective experience it inspires. Everyone is invited to create freely and contribute to our shared story. The atmosphere around the table transforms conversations; it becomes playful, engaging our senses and encouraging a deeper awareness of our surroundings. Each participant is important for crafting the evening's story through creative expressions. The event highlight how communal creativity can bridge cultures and invite connections through food.
Your study of naturopathy and herbalism has deepened your understanding of the human-plant connection. How does this knowledge inform your approach to cooking and your artistic expressions?
I did my studies 2010 in Stockholm and I definitely think it shaped the way I see the world, and understand ecosystems from a holistic vision including humans and plants in a more sensitive way. I believe it gave me a more sensitive approach on how to combine foods, and I have learned a lot spending hours observing nature - using it in different creative ways in art like drawing, wool for weaving, and plants for dyeing.
Last year I did a postcard book with ofr paris called “Flora Medica – a poetic journey through plants”, a combination of my poetry and recipes inspired by the qualities of each plant from a holistic viewpoint together with my watercolor paintings. I loved this project and totally combines both worlds.
You moved to France in 2012 and began working in the specialty coffee industry while pursuing your artistic passions. How did this period shape your career and lead to your first botanical collection?
This transition was unexpected but beautiful! I went to Paris to invest time to work on personal art project and I didn’t know I was going to stay in France for 12 years and counting. I got immersed in the Parisian specialty coffee scene and it gave me meaningful connections and friends for life. Always carrying my notebook, I spent much of my free time observing and drawing plants in parks and around. I think I was used to observe ecosystems when traveling, and it was a way of being close to nature in a busy city.
My cooking and drawing skills became my way of communicating (I was still learning French at this point.. ), very soon I began to receive inquiries for cooking events and started side projects as a freelance cook. In 2016, I had my first art show at OFR, where my botanical drawings were showcased together with a published post card book —this experience helped define my path as an artist and cook.
A few years later, you started your own business as a freelance chef and artist. What were the challenges and rewards of working independently?
The journey of ten years (and counting!) of entrepreneurship has been both enriching and of course challenging, but with all the challenges comes evolution – and more creativity.
The rewards are immense and I love learning new things and the way it makes you evolve as a person. The ability to follow your own timing, manage space for current inspiration and creations and the freedom to explore diverse projects— these are crucial for creativity, and worth all work it takes to get there.
It takes time to create a business, and one must be a bit bold and brave. But there is nothing more fulfilling than working with your passions, and being the creator of a structure based on a unique philosophy that supports your core values and work with people who understands them.
Where do you seek inspiration? Could you elaborate on how they influence your creativity and manifest in your artistic and culinary creations?
I rely a lot on my intuition and desires to lead me through menu making and all creations. For cooking it’s definitely the farmers markets that are my biggest inspiration; the produce available, and the weather. I can pick up inspiration in places, dreams, an artists work or books! And waterfalls, waterfalls are places that always give me peace, and direction. Each project, client and place influence my creativity, one feeds another and depending on what I am working on these factors plays a role like a palette of colors.
You mention allowing projects the time they need to blossom. Can you describe your creative process and how you balance your various projects?
Growing up in Sweden I learned to appreciate the dark, cold, and quiet winter months as a time for introspection. This period of silence is where we can deepen our relationship to ourselves including creativity. Whether in art or cooking, I believe we when we give our projects the necessary time to develop, they achieve greater quality and depth.
With experience, and a familiarity with my returning clients, I have a clear idea of how my projects ebb and flow throughout the year. So that’s how I try to balance the busy seasons of engagement with the quieter, more reflected periods dedicated to creativity.
As much as I love travel, and connect with clients during cooking sessions, I love to be in my atelier creating in my bubble.
I tend to dive deeply into my projects; but each process is different. If it is a commission it is more straightforward and the structure around the project helps me deliver faster. If it is a personal project it can take years for it to mature, as they involve a intimate process of meaning, structure and story.
Timing is important, and in a creative process it is crucial to allow the vision and process to unfold with its natural rhythm, so I am patient and create the conditions necessary to respect that natural ebb and flow of the creative processes for it to blossom.
What are your future aspirations, and what kind of projects or collaborations are you most excited about pursuing?
My future aspirations are to continue moving hearts through art and food following my values and desires, working with people who are open!
I am looking forward to share culinary and visual arts internationally with sensitive people and places like museums, galleries and culinary schools.. And I’d be excited to collaborate and make drawings printed on fabric this year!
You travel internationally for many projects. What is the most important thing that you have learned through your travels?
Among all the travel, and incredible projects, the most important lesson I've learned is the incredible generosity of people. It's often the small gestures that stand out and leave lasting memories.
Traveling not only inspires me but also helps me learn more about life, ecosystems and different cultures.
The way you choose to approach your work and interactions with the people you meet significantly influences your experience.
When you are new to places and experiences it forces us to see things with even more curiosity and wonder, I think that is what makes me appreciate traveling, it opens your spirit and take your creativity to another level.
Lina Bou - @__linabou @culinatecollective
Pictures - Lina Bou, maia flore, Summer Staeb