Meet Madeline McLaughlin

Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline McLaughlin.

Madeline, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I cannot really remember a time when art was not a part of my life. I was that “artsy” kid who was lucky enough to have a mom who always remembered to put my crayons and notebook in her purse to pull out for me wherever we went. Most of my childhood was spent doing something creative, whether it be drawing, painting, puppet-making, dancing, or filmmaking. I was always creating something out of nothing. I grew up mostly in Brooklyn, NY and went to NYU for a film. It was through film that I discovered this latest passion of mine– digital collage. Through my exploration of archive footage for experimental films I was doing, I started to get into archival photos and illustrations. From there, collage became the natural next step.

However, (in all honesty), I had always had an aversion to collage. It seemed like a cop-out art practice compared to my drawing and painting skills I had labored over for years. But then I had the thought, “If I’m judging this medium so much, I should probably try it out.” A little over a year later, I have now made over 400 digital collages and I’m about to have my first solo exhibition. So if you find yourself judging something, whether it be an art medium or film genre or whatever it is, I highly recommend giving it go and you might just find your thing.

Has it been a smooth road?
To say it has been a tad bit rocky would be a lovely little sugar-dusted euphemism. It has been equal parts enormously difficult and personally impelling. Although the move from New York to Los Angeles was tremendously challenging, I’ve come to really find myself in this weird capitalistic-nightmare, clean-eating-but-not-really, housing-crisis-ridden, constantly-on-literal-fire Tinseltown. I haven’t always been able to find a job, I haven’t always been able to pay rent and I’ve definitely had to skip a meal here and there, but the greatest thing about LA is the support system you can create here with all the other tenacious misfits. I’ve been lucky enough to have friends who have been there for me through troubled times, and have always been supportive of me and my artwork.

We’d love to hear more about your art.
I make original digital collages. I am known for the distinctive themes in my work, such as death, heartache, anxiety and loneliness. People really respond to the strange and surreal imagery I find myself returning to again and again in my artwork. My art is generally all the stuff that’s just cooking up into a surrealist soup in my brain and that I have to dish out in consumable dosages or else it explodes all over the kitchen that is my reality (haha.) I manipulate ready-made images that range from pulp comics, movie posters, and old photographs, to vintage novel covers and classic paintings. I divorce them from their former intention and meaning, and create worlds, characters, and situations that are wholly unique. What I am most proud of is my ability to manipulate ready-made imagery and completely recontextualize what they evoke. Contrary to other contemporary artists, I feel that my work is able to combine dark and light themes without being forcibly provocative.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
What I love best about this city is that there is a relentless hopefulness. Although we all feel a little desperate and maybe a little lost, we all come out to this city to create something so fantastically larger than ourselves and our past. I find so many people here who, despite hardships, have been able to regain their ambition again and again. On the other hand, that same mentality can lend to some of the self-serving traits that seem so very prevalent in this city. Ambitious people in this town tend to do things in their best interest and won’t always go out of their way for others (i.e. not going across town to visit your sad friend on the west side–dude, there is a freeway, it’s FREE!) That being said, you could probably toss me in with all the other self-obsessed artist/actor types that run this town too, so I’ll just step off my soapbox right about now.

Pricing:

• 8″x10″ Prints – $15
• 11″x14″ Prints – $22
• Framed 11″ x14″ Prints – $35

Contact Info:

• Website: madelinemclaughlin.com
• Email: madelinej.mclaughlin@gmail.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/madelinejmclaughlin
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/madelinejmclaughlin

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