Madeleine Kaudy

 As humans, we have both physical evidence of that which we experience in the exterior world and the infiniteness of internal imagination. I am interested in the ways in which I can visually hold these two truths at the same time, despite the improbability of the realization of imagined landscapes. The body of work altogether combines elements of both existing and imaginary worlds as metaphysical investigations into the nature of the universe. These depictions are essentially topographical maps and vignettes of possible alternate realities that have the potential to exist in parallel universes. Playing with the dimensions of materiality, I investigate possibilities through spatiality and formal relationships within the works.

I make paintings, lithographs, assemblages, collages and drawings using a heavily saturated color palette of oil, acrylic and watercolor paints as well as colored pencil, marker, ink and oil pastels. Through three specific modes, the work occupies differing places on a spectrum between abstraction and representation. 

The first mode is pure abstraction that is sourced through instinct as an investigation into the internal. Pure form, color, shape, balance, saturation and negative space are the tools through which I communicate emotions or spaces existing in an imaginary universe.

Bridging the gap between between abstract and representational is the liminal space, my second work mode. Often, these works take the form of abstracted landscapes or urban settings existing in a space between the recognizable dimensions in which we live and imaginary landscapes, employing the use of a consistent shape and color-driven visual language with a combination of abstracted and representational semiotics. These works are curations of collected visual material both from my own abstract work and the material/external world that are then deconstructed from both their visual and symbolic contexts then reconstructed into finished works that challenge the boundaries of tradition. Source materials include sketchbooks, paintings, photographs, and print material.

The third and final mode is representational work based on photography, and my homage to the material world. Depicting a sense of place is foremost in this practice. While both subject and content are the most recognizeable and referential to the external, shared world, the works are intentionally informed by their materiality to create specific moods and evoke emotions in the viewer.

As my practice evolves, the modes remain distinct from one another; yet they have the potential to exist together in new ways. I am currently working on new pieces that combine these heretofore separate methods of creating. It seems an entirely new universe is unfolding before me.