Madeline Brice
Kansas City, Missouri-based artist Madeline Brice “knows no boundaries” between art and life, purposefully intertwining the two by creating a studio out of the basement of her home and using her artistic practice as a meditative way of wading through traumas and grief. Madeline’s work is highly personal, taking deep dives into her own experiences and relationships to extract the specific meanings, moments, and feelings she paints.
If you are interested in Madeline’s work, please visit her website or Instagram, and send all inquiries to madelinebriceart@gmail.com.
About:
Madeline earned her BA in Art History and BFA in painting from Missouri State University. Remembering a Georgia O’Keefe-influenced oil pastel from high school, which her mom still has framed, she recalls that she has always been making art. Her artistic practice has spanned painting, woodworking, digital, and installation art, though she primarily works with oil paint on metallized mylar, a non-absorbent surface which also distorts images.
Banana Money, oil on mylar and digital painting, 18 x 24 in.
Madeline began using mylar as her primary medium after her diagnosis of Depersonalisation/Derealisation Disorder (DPDR) in 2019 following sexual and reproductive trauma. She says, ‘this disorder causes the world to seem dreamlike and delusive. Familiar places become unfamiliar, familiar people become unrecognizable. Mylar reflects and distorts its environment, much in the same way my brain does’. Her practice is to take her reference imagery from its reflection in the mylar, naturally distorting her subjects, which she then paints back on top of the mylar creating a further distortion.
The mind and body are central themes of Madeline’s work, and she mines her own experiences of mental health and relearning the self to create her pieces.
‘When I finally achieve a flow state in the studio, I’m able to process some of the feelings I suppress in my natural emotional-avoidant state.
‘Truthfully, I make the work for no one but myself.’ – Madeline
Little Swimmers, Oil on mylar, 27 x 36 in.
In experimenting with art outside the traditional art world realm of galleries, Madeline has created her own pop-up exhibitions anywhere from dumpsters to her own front porch. She is currently working on her next solo exhibition, which will focus on the mind and expansion, and will include both her traditional mylar painting and balloon-like sculptural forms composed of painted mylar, twine and chains.
She is also interested in opportunities to collaborate with companies and institutions, appreciating the diverse work these partnerships afford. In addition to projects with the Springfield Art Museum and Kansas City Opera, Madeline has also collaborated with the local Mother’s Brewing Company to rebrand one of their beers, and most recently has worked with musicians on album artwork and merchandise.
Besides drawing richly from her own life, she is also inspired by artists like Bony Ramirez, Jenny Saville, Erik Winkowski, and Sally Hewitt among others.
Exhibitions:
2021 Juried Group Exhibition Socially Distanced | Brick City Gallery | Springfield MO
2021 Juried Group Exhibition Beyond 2020 Vision | Kiosk Gallery | Kansas City MO
2020 Solo Exhibition DREAMWORLD | Beco Gallery | Kansas City MO
2019 Juried Exhibition Representation Matters: I See Me | Kokomo Gallery | Kokomo IN
2019 Juried Group Exhibition Beco Gallery | Kansas City MO
2019 Juried Group Exhibition Blackout | Obelisk Gallery | Springfield MO
2019 Juried Group Exhibition 99x: Myths and Monsters | Springfield Art Museum | Springfield MO
2019 Solo Exhibition Interactivity/Reflectivity: An Explorative Series | Obelisk Gallery | Springfield, MO
2018 Selected Group Exhibition Art in Our City | Springfield Art Museum | Springfield, MO
2018 Selected Group Exhibition 99x: Cirque Americana | Springfield Art Museum | Springfield, MO
2018 Solo Exhibition A retrospective at Systematic Savings Bank | Springfield MO
2018 Group Exhibition Open Studios | Idea X Factory | Springfield MO
2017 Selected Group Exhibition The Best of the Best Pop-up | Qenoteca | Springfield MO
2017 Selected Group Exhibition Best in Show | MySLarts| St Louis MO
Publications and Press:
2020-2021 Honeytrap Magazine Volumes 12, 13, 14, 16 | Springfield MO
2020 Kansas City Voices Volume 15 | Kansas City MO
2019 Semiotics: An Anthology on Modern Love, Sexuality, and Desire | St. Petersburg FL
2018 Springfield Business Journal Book of Facts | Springfield MO
2018 417 Magazine “Best Local Artist to Follow” | Springfield MO
2018 LOGOS Journal of Undergraduate Research | Springfield MO
2017 LOGOS Journal of Undergraduate Research | Springfield MO
2017 Ripple Magazine Cover May Issue | Orono ME
All images provided by the artist.