the summer i try to get really good at tennis, 2021, Madeline Brice, oil on mylar, 48 x 60 inches
HUBBARD SAVAGE: Can you tell me about a specific artwork that you think of often?
MADELINE BRICE: I think about a lot of work a lot of the time, but I also think of nothing a lot of the time too. Generally, when I'm in my studio, I put on a podcast and tune out, at times my mind quite literally feels empty. I'm an overthinker. Anxious mind outside of the studio, so I welcome these moments of creative clarity. I do think a lot about Laure Prouvost's completely immersive installation titled Ring, Sing, and Drink for Trespassing that I experienced at Palais de Tokyo in Paris in the Fall of 2018. It was sculpture, ceramics, video, and tapestries, complete with a fountain made of breasts and milk. I think about it often because it focused on letting the viewer and the artist feel as though they were trespassing and do whatever they thought they couldn't do anywhere else. I think about that fountain a lot; massive ceramic breasts shooting water (milk) high into the gallery space. I spent over an hour experiencing that installation alone, it felt like a playground. I think I liked it so much because that's where I envision my work going over time; immersive and encapsulating. Lately I've been returning to Vexed to Nightmare by Jesse Mockrin and literally any work by Giorgio Celin.
SAVAGE: I'd never seen Jesse Mockrin. It's interesting how she can allude so much to classical paintings just by depicting hands the way she does. Curving, plump fingers. Giorgio Celin has a similar distortion of reality in his paintings to yours. But your choices with lines and brushwork are more exact. It's a different style. You've told me that you photograph your subjects in the reflection of mylar, and then you use those subject photographs to paint back on to the mylar. For someone who has never felt mylar in their hands (like me), can you tell us about the material and how you arrived at using it in your art?
BRICE: Yes, their work is so intriguing and really influences some of my compositions. I began working with mylar after I was commissioned to do an installation for the Springfield Art Museum in 2018 for a themed fundraising event. My chosen concept was house of mirrors. While planning this installation I went through a severely traumatic sexual and reproductive experience which landed me in extensive therapy after having several intense months of debilitating dissociation and derealization, which I still very much experience now but on a lesser scale. While coping with this trauma I was still trying to tend to my deadlines and function as normally as I possibly could, as you can imagine this proved to be extremely difficult, but I'm not one to give up easily. So while swimming through the thickness that heavy dissociation causes I began hunting for reflective materials for my install, and ultimately I came across mylar. It interacts with the environment much like a funhouse mirror. For the install I used plain pieces of mylar for the guests to interact with and take pictures within and I realized that I wanted to start painting these reflections back on top of the mylar. I felt that the distortions it caused accurately represented my visual perceptions while in the thick of it. If you Google DPDR, or depersonalization/derealization disorder, a general symptom is unfamiliarity. People or places you've known your entire life suddenly feel unfamiliar and unreal in the worst way possible. I started painting a lot of self-portraits because my sense of self was absolutely demolished. Ultimately, I work with mylar and reflective surfaces in an effort to visually represent the way my brain processes information.
SAVAGE: I know we’re speaking in general terms, but I’m sorry you had to go through that trauma. Obviously, not all trauma gets turned around and used for good like you’re describing. I’d also say most artists probably don’t have such a clear understanding of the way their experiences and mental lenses inform their work. The most basic implication of the idea of DPDR in your work is that it distorts lines. What’s straight is now bending, what was stationary is now fluid. There’s an obvious metaphor there, and it’s also bigger than a metaphor - it’s an experience and a feeling. When I think about your work, the piece I think about most is “little swimmer(s)”. Visually, it’s such a compelling portrait. The cowboy hat, the distorted pointy nose. The white tear drops that mirror what’s coming off the clothesline. And then you realize that what is hanging on the clothesline is about a dozen used condoms. It’s powerful. Do you feel like telling me anything about your relationship with this painting?
little swimmer(s), 2020, Madeline Brice, oil on mylar, 27 x 36 inches
BRICE: Of course. I sort of made this as an ode to all the unwarranted or, I could say, incoherent sexual encounters I’ve experienced. I used my sister as subject because she and I share familiarity with this topic. Being raised by the same parents, one who struggles with addiction, we each developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol or substances at an early age and found ourselves in situations we might not have found ourselves in had we been sober. I draw parallels between tears and cum because for so many women they go hand in hand. The cowboy hat is both protection and innocence embodied, drawing direct influence from a child size cowboy hat. I also drew a lot of influence from my sister and I’s trip to Amsterdam in the Fall of 2018 where I discovered my first condomorium. I swear my life isn’t as glum as I write and make about, many good things have happened to me as well, creating is really the only way I know how to deal with the sads.
SAVAGE: I hoped your answer would make me like the painting even more, and it did just that. The visual of condoms on a clothesline is just amazing. Can you discuss any ideas that helped you unlock potential in your art or art practice?
BRICE: I do a ton of reading. I'm constantly ingesting materials that may or may not help my practice. I take notes and return to them later. I set a reading goal every year and try to surpass that goal if possible. I was once told if you read a book or find a writer that you really like, read everything that person has ever written or been a part of. I employ a similar tactic with viewing/studying the works of artists I really admire. Reading works by artists or about artists or about life and sometimes even fiction, can really get my creative juices flowing. I also take recommendations from friends very seriously. I used to keep a steady sketchbook, but one day I realized I was too tied to the sketchbook and never made much of the work I sketched or wrote about, so I only visit a sketchbook if the feeling sparks or when I'm travelling. I think the best advice I've ever received was from a college professor who said, "just keep making the work."
SAVAGE: Just keep making the work. I like that. Do you use any rituals to get you going?
BRICE: I don't really have anything super specific. The main thing that really gets me going is time. If I only have like two hours to get work done, I won't. It's not enough time to get into a flow. I usually require four + hours to even get started. I also require a beverage of some sort, hydration is important. At any given time I may have two to four beverages in rotation. I like to make tea or a smoothie, pair that with a sparkling water, my hydroflask, and maybe a lavender decaf latte if I'm feeling spontaneous. I usually do a quick clean up of the studio space before I get to work. A clean space feels easier to make a mess in.
SAVAGE: You can't argue with hydration. What's something your friends are surprised to learn about you?
BRICE: Interesting question. It really makes you think existentially about yourself. I didn't really know how to answer this so I asked my friend Kristen. Here's what she said: "That you figure skated. That you used to double fist 40s. That you can build/make things out of wood or just really pick up any medium and do something amazing with it. That you can travel the same way I do and be okay with not planning too much out and going with the flow of what happens. That you went from being low carb, eating meat all the time to completely vegan. That you stopped drinking caffeine. That you can have bad habits that you hate and just quit them cold turkey whenever you want and be okay." I appreciate her honesty and thoughtful input.
SAVAGE: Sounds like a good friend. Thanks for your time, Madeline.
https://www.madelinebrice.com/ Instagram - @madelinebrice.art
SAVAGE: I hoped your answer would make me like the painting even more, and it did just that. The visual of condoms on a clothesline is just amazing. Can you discuss any ideas that helped you unlock potential in your art or art practice?
BRICE: I do a ton of reading. I'm constantly ingesting materials that may or may not help my practice. I take notes and return to them later. I set a reading goal every year and try to surpass that goal if possible. I was once told if you read a book or find a writer that you really like, read everything that person has ever written or been a part of. I employ a similar tactic with viewing/studying the works of artists I really admire. Reading works by artists or about artists or about life and sometimes even fiction, can really get my creative juices flowing. I also take recommendations from friends very seriously. I used to keep a steady sketchbook, but one day I realized I was too tied to the sketchbook and never made much of the work I sketched or wrote about, so I only visit a sketchbook if the feeling sparks or when I'm travelling. I think the best advice I've ever received was from a college professor who said, "just keep making the work."
SAVAGE: Just keep making the work. I like that. Do you use any rituals to get you going?
BRICE: I don't really have anything super specific. The main thing that really gets me going is time. If I only have like two hours to get work done, I won't. It's not enough time to get into a flow. I usually require four + hours to even get started. I also require a beverage of some sort, hydration is important. At any given time I may have two to four beverages in rotation. I like to make tea or a smoothie, pair that with a sparkling water, my hydroflask, and maybe a lavender decaf latte if I'm feeling spontaneous. I usually do a quick clean up of the studio space before I get to work. A clean space feels easier to make a mess in.
SAVAGE: You can't argue with hydration. What's something your friends are surprised to learn about you?
BRICE: Interesting question. It really makes you think existentially about yourself. I didn't really know how to answer this so I asked my friend Kristen. Here's what she said: "That you figure skated. That you used to double fist 40s. That you can build/make things out of wood or just really pick up any medium and do something amazing with it. That you can travel the same way I do and be okay with not planning too much out and going with the flow of what happens. That you went from being low carb, eating meat all the time to completely vegan. That you stopped drinking caffeine. That you can have bad habits that you hate and just quit them cold turkey whenever you want and be okay." I appreciate her honesty and thoughtful input.
SAVAGE: Sounds like a good friend. Thanks for your time, Madeline.
https://www.madelinebrice.com/ Instagram - @madelinebrice.art
Crying Booth, 2020, Madeline Brice, oil on mylar, 27 x 60 inches
