Maud Madsen’s paintings explore childhood memories, daydreaming and nesting – Huge
Brooklyn-based artist Maud Madsen delves into the meaning of finding comfort, inspiration, and safety in our home space. Her current solo exhibition, Residents In the half gallery, she depicts her huge memory area of building a building in a pillow fortress where snow or pillows sit, an activity we often associate with the unlimited creativity and originality of children. They are also shelter.
Children’s book author Chris Van Allsburg Jumanji,,,,, Polar Expressand The Secret of Harris BurdickMadsen often takes the space in the form of a living room or bedroom (defining relaxation and dreaming) as a sailing of imagination.
For Madsen, similar approaches shape her rendition of childhood activities that emphasize nostalgic and fascinating activities such as building a blanket fort or playing with a 1980s-era Fisher Price Farm set. Deep shadows, mysterious environments and strange situations come together in the artist’s seductive and mysterious oil paintings.
“Because all artists’ works involve childhood memories, Maud also involves the past in past history,” the gallery said. “The dual meaning of her performance title is a mirror of skill, or perhaps force-force, that focuses our attention on the space (many self-creation) occupied by her characters.”
Perhaps illuminated by a porch light in the distance or through a glittering moon through a window, the artist’s recent paintings are set at night, suggesting that these moments may be the result of dreams, or even insomnia. Nighttime can be seen as a symbol of ending and transitioning to new things, such as puberty to adulthood. Madsen’s work also examines the concept of “nest building” in which we carefully organize and curate our home spaces to define our tastes and needs in a way that feels comfortable, autonomous and secure.
Residents It lasts until October 2 in New York City. See more information on the artist’s website and on Instagram.
