Warner, Madeline
the insiders
monoprint and screenprint
2022
I am a 23 year old second year fine art student and a mother to a two year old. I live and study in Leicester but have spent the majority of my life between California, North Carolina and Oxford. Moving around a lot has made me a bit of a restless personality and consequentially, I am drawn to a creative practice (whether that be painting, printmaking or writing) centred around influence, relationships, and the human condition.
In my work ‘the insiders’ I was inspired by Caroline Walkers work, David Lynch’s film Blue Velvet and Cindy Sherman’s Film Stills. I focus on the contradiction found in being a young mum. The selfish feelings of loss in gaining someone new, the inadequacy felt in trying to pour from an empty cup or the isolation of being in a house full of sleeping people. I hoped these contradictions would be more universally empathised with than particular experiences or imagery associated with motherhood. In this way, evoking the audiences feelings relating to my work is more important to me than them knowing mine. Everyone knows heartache and knowing that is comforting I think.
In ‘the insiders’ I loved placing a curtain between the viewer and an image, still allowing them to see through but also serving as a reminder of the separation from what may lay beyond. The curtain also served as an embodiment of viewing memories through rose tinted glasses, and life that feels constricted to the confines of home.
