Madison is a studio artist and provenance specialist with experience in cultural heritage, art crime, and archives.

She obtained a B.A. in Art History from the University of Kentucky in 2020 and an M.A. in Collecting and Provenance from the University of Glasgow, Scotland in 2022. She has worked for McTear’s Auctioneers in Glasgow, Lindsey Owen Appraisals in Chicago, and is the former Gallery Director at Hockensmith’s Fine Art Editions in Lexington, KY.

Artist Statement

My work as a figurative painter draws upon art historical motifs and vintage eroticism to combat outdated tropes representing women in visual culture. Rendered in dreamy layers of acrylic wash, the figures I depict inhabit an alternate world where women are in control of their bodies, sexuality, and desires. Perhaps wishful thinking, these figures are empowered with talons, scales, wings, and horns to establish their power and presence, but often wield unconventional weapons like body hair, stretch marks, and underrepresented body types to dismantle misogynistic beauty standards. 

With references to neoclassical mythologies, vintage kitsch, and surrealism, I employ decorative painting techniques to envelop figures in stylized patterns, saturated color, and luminous highlights. These camouflages obscure the erotic nature of the subject matter, playfully pointing out the contradiction that exists in the hypersexualization of bodies in digital media, with the same channels actively working to censor the image of the traditional nude.