A digital Archive of my art practice

fun facts :

I HAVE 2 BLACK ​CATS /ᐠ - ˕ -マ Ⳋ

“who is that girl?”

ARTIST

Bio

“IT’S ME :) HI GUYS ! ”

Maddison Post is a 22-year-old emerging artist residing ​in Amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta) on Treaty 6 ​territory. Maddison holds a Diploma of Studio Arts with ​Distinction from MacEwan University and a Bachelor of ​Fine Arts with Distinction from the University of ​Alberta. Maddison focuses her practice on storytelling ​and creating narratives based on research, personal ​connections and material exploration. Creating ​sculptures, videos, drawings, paintings, soundscapes, and ​installations fuel Maddison’s multi-media practice. ​Maddison uses her artistic practice and research to ​discuss themes personal to her own identity, creating ​personal and meaningful connections with viewers. ​Maddison continues to grow her practice and contribute to ​art communities locally on Treaty 6 and is hoping to ​explore international art communities soon.

✧˖° I LOVE CARTOONS ​AND REALITY TV ✧˖°

I HAVE AN INTENSE

SANRIO COLLECTION ​/\ 🎀/\

ﾐ ・◦・ ﾐ

Would you like to hear what's new with me? ​check out my

“ooolala”

I root my artwork in storytelling using it as a diary for ​my own experiences of connecting with my identity and ​growing up as a young woman in this modern age of ​technology. I use the creation of narratives to explore ​themes of interest such as cultural heritage/diaspora, ​family history, pop culture/current events and my current ​focus, existentialism in a crumbling world. My practice ​takes form in exploration and play in both materiality and ​artistic process, becoming adept in a variety of different ​forms of craft to tell my multilevel stories. Through my ​practice I am attempting to figure out what I value most ​about life, through honest and authentic research, ​learning more about the world around me and before me ​through artistic creations.

DO YOU WANT TO See my epic awesome ​ig stories?

TALK ABOUT MY ART?

ASK QUESTIONS?

lets make something

INSTAGRAM : @maddiesartcave

@madddddisonn

PINTREST: @madddddisonn

YOUTUBE: @maddiesartcave

MADDIEPOST@OUTLOOK.COM

WHATS NEW AND POPPING?

Maddies Updates !

Ummmmmm hiiiiii I just started my new website and ​I'm so excited to have a more permanent place to ​share my work. Explore my archive and go ​through all my silly little eras, watch out taylor ​swift :p

talk to u guys soon xoxo :)

March 2024

the

index

Art Cave

Archive

*·˚༊2024༊*·˚ Post- Grad

This year I want to expand my artistic practice ​by learning new skills such as crochet and 3D ​modelling. I am open to new materials to ​influence research. After finishing my degree I ​have felt burnt out post-grad and I’m trying to ​establish sustainable ways of making that can ​contribute to my practice and fulfill me in this ​new chapter of my life and career. I am looking ​forward to applying to residencies globally ​while also looking to contribute to my local art ​community here in Amiskwaciwâskahikan.

I.D.E.E

Collaboration Project

In this House, We Hold Space 2024 mixed media collaboration

In the last months of 2023, we gather once a week at the City Arts ​Centre here in Amiskwaciwâskahikan with the goal of holding space to ​be creative and explore. Through the funding of IDEE (Innovate, ​Diversify, Educate, Empower) non-profit, Maddison and Nadia taught ​students ages 16-21 a variety of ways of art making through four ​Mixed Media workshops. We listened to Dad rock, giggled during snack ​break and saw the first snow fall in December. During a time when it ​seems the world is falling further from what we know, gathering to ​hold space to create anything you can imagine felt freeing. We built ​this house on the trust that we created a community based on ​learning, exploration and kindness.

Students were taught the history of surrealism and exquisite ​corpse drawings, inspired by the surrealist's response to ​tragedy we collectively created a dream house together. Everyone ​deserves to have space to thrive and create in, our ​collaboration creates a large space in which we imagine a house ​where we all deserve to hold space. During this time of mass ​displacements here in Amiskwaciwâskahikan and internationally in ​Gaza, we dream of a home for all. In this House, We Hold Space ​is a community project created by instructors Maddison Post and ​Nadia Hernandez, and students of the 2023 IDEE Mixed Media ​class, Ashley Onate, Landis Lizotte, Mango Donita,

Paulyn Quia-Ot, Zulyana Wasquin, Trisha Bugas, Oleksandr ​Melobenskyi, Camila Cienfuegos- Herrera.

Students Work

from

Mixed Media Workshop

Sculptures by Mango ​Donita

Sculptures by ​Landis Lizotte

Statment

૮ ⚆ﻌ⚆ა 2023 Existential ERA

We all have moments of existentialism as the world has so many ​options and choices for us to make, and the thought of choice when ​it comes to the fate of our lives is terrifying. We often feel these ​feelings when we are in the midst of transition and change; in the ​past few years, we've seen lots of change. My body's natural state ​stays in the balance of stress and relief; it's all-natural, but ​it's hard to handle a lot of the time, so my research for this year ​revolves around existentialism and the feelings of constant stress ​and relief when it feels like the worlds impending doom is ​approaching. Some say it's natural to feel this way when ​experiencing a time of change in your life, but nothing about this ​feeling feels natural.

Within my practice, I want to further explore my existentialist ​research by exploring objects that can represent the body's response ​to existentialism and the things that can be responsible for relief ​for the body when one is experiencing existential anxiety. I’ve ​built a fort to hideaway and figure this all out inside, it's a ​privilege to be able to do that these days.

Country Roads ,

Statment

TAKE ME HOME...

Country Roads, Take Me Home, is an interactive, small-scale, installation-based media ​project following a journey to find what home is. The suitcase houses the seven set design ​packs created to represent the main character's journey home. The packs include a backdrop ​set, set pieces, a frame and two side panel pieces which can be interchanged and collaged ​via the magnet board. The accompanying video piece uses these sets to have the main ​character (myself) interact with their environments on their journey to find a place of ​home. The video's audio is a collage of different artists' covers of John Denver's 1971 song ​Take Me Home, Country Roads. The various artists' styles mimic the feeling and atmosphere of ​the environments/and move the story along to progress the character's quest. The 1971 song ​is redone in many different genres presenting many other country roads and homes, allowing ​for distinction between sets.

I created this work as a response to my own life events, as this is my final class of my ​BFA, it is coming time for me to travel the country roads and find a place to call my own. ​There are a lot of feelings about it, fear, anxiety, excitement, and unknowingness all play ​a role in figuring out where I will fit in the world and what experiences/places will ​influence where I end up. When creating the set pieces I wanted to note the experiences I ​have when I leave my home and exaggerate and maximalize the environments to not just be ​landscapes, but interactive sets you can play with and explore in. Country Roads, Take Me ​Home is a project I hope to expand on, making more interactive environments/ but also ​tourist memorabilia from the created environments to accompany the installation.

Country Roads ,

Country Roads, Take Me Home, ​preliminary set drawings, ​Pencil Crayon and Paint Pens ​2023

TAKE ME HOME...

A childhood bedroom is meant

to be the safest place where

you grow to discover yourself

surrounded by magic.

However, as we grow it reaches a ​point where the comfort can be ​suffocating, that's when we leave ​to discover what we can do.

This is my grandparents

house!

This part of Edmonton

will always feel like a

heart in my hometown

I grew up in Edmonton thinking ​that my city was the best in the ​world!

My view is starting to change as ​I’m starting to see the reality ​of the environment of the City ​and its problems. I think me and ​my hometown need time apart to ​come together again.

The reality is when you leave Edmonton, ​you drive through the Prairies.

The Prairies have complicated politics, ​often the home of right-wing ideologies ​and hateful highway signs.

I’ve also met some of the most amazing ​Prairies people from all different ​cultures, heritages and homelands.

The Prairies have so much history and hope ​in its soil, sometimes you forget that.

Living in the Texas of Canada

is complicated and sometimes

you have to just live, laugh, love

through it.

“The mountains call me to ​something new and ​exciting.

I think this is what I’m ​supposed to do.”

It’s a very common experience

for young people in

Alberta, throughout many

generations, to have their first

venture on their own to the

nearby Rocky Mountains.

Something about the mountains feels ​protective and inspiring. They make ​you feel thankful for home and ​excited for what is beyond them. ​The mountains

ground me in my journeys and

ease me into the change that lies ​ahead.

Everyone who is landlocked

dreams of the Sea. It’s so different

from the Prairies, it seems

almost magical.

Something about it seems

almost fake and not real?

It’s what I’ve always

dreamed of but it still

doesn’t feel right, it

makes me miss home.

“This is the place I’ve ​always dreamed of.

Is this where I’m ​meant to be?”

I’ve arrived at the ​Big City and I’m ​determined to prove ​something, I have to ​otherwise what was the ​point of leaving ​everything I once ​knew?

“I’m making something of ​myself all alone and for the ​first time.

I hope I make it.”

“I feel like I am missing ​something, that feeling of ​home, that feeling of ​familiarity”

Being away from home can make

you forget about why you wanted ​to leave in the first place. I ​know when I leave home I’ll ​forget something that’ll make ​me have to go back and the ​cycle can repeat itself again.

Growing Pains

installation in dc3 gallery

Growing Pains features the work of 13 ​recent Bachelor of Fine Arts graduates ​from the University of Alberta. ​Continuing to reflect on our growth ​into artists, this exhibition ​showcases both familiar and unseen ​work.

Beyond Human Will

rutherford library installation

My two sculpture armours Softcore and ​Kidcore installed inside Rutherford ​Library at the University of Alberta in ​Edmonton AB. Beyond Human Will was a ​show group show curated by Royden Mills ​and all instructors of the Department ​of Art and Design past and present, ​running April 11-May 10 2023

Kidcore

Plastered on the arms of this armour you will find cuttings ​from mixed media magazine clippings depicting fears for the ​future and all its different layers. The armour itself weighs ​about 15 pounds and is protected by a layer of cardboard and ​plater wrapped in a blanket. It's all overwhelming and ​controlled at the same time to wear the armour. The armour ​takes on all the layers of stress This armour and its ​materiality represent the stress and weight of the world ​growing up into a young woman in a time of never-ending ​contained chaos.

The Kidcore armour is a representation of growing up. The ​title “Kidcore” references the aesthetic movement that centers ​around bright colours and nostalgia for kid-themed aesthetics ​and marketing, its origins can be traced back to the 70s, 80s, ​90s, and the 2000s when I was born. As a child we are shielded ​and protected from the realities of the world, I'm just a kid ​and then the next thing I know I have a credit score. I am a ​woman in a world where I can be anything I want and then get ​told I am not good enough. I feel every day I’m like a kid in ​dress-up clothes and I often find that this outlook leads to ​my protection but also my downfall when it comes to ​accountability in my adulthood. The armour shields me and ​contributes to my negligence and unwillingness to commit to ​growing up based on my life experiences so far. Wearing the ​sculpture is a theatrical endeavour, that is ridiculous and ​unconventional, but I find that is the same experience that ​life brings.

ARMOUR

Kidcore ​Armour No.1

Cardboard, ​Duct Tape, ​Wire, Plaster ​bandage, ​mixed media ​images and ​Mod Podge.

2022

Dimensions : ​7” x 32” x ​26”

About 15 ​pounds

The Softcore armour represents girlhood and the feelings of being ​watched and judged when it came to how and why my body was taking ​up space. The armour's two figures have beaded phrases and sayings ​tattooed on their bodies many of these sayings and phrases have ​been ingrained into my body as well. The soft body armour is a ​manifestation of stress, anxiety and complete and utter honesty ​all combined into one.

The title Softcore references the pornography definition of the ​word meaning “...commercial still photography, film, or art that ​has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually ​graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack ​of visual sexual penetration.”. Softcore describes the sculpture's ​physical soft nylon form, but I think it can also be a descriptor ​of young girls as they are experiencing womanhood. I felt that as ​I was going through girlhood. My body was changing and becoming ​sexualized by everyone in my life, I was once so emotional and in ​tune with my body and what I was feeling, and all of a sudden I ​was labelled as being hormonal. I kept everything inside and ​contained because that's what I was told, I could not cause a ​scene. The nylons are the armour's skin holding everything inside, ​while the outside describes the sayings relating to girlhood I’ve ​been told latching itself to the armour's skin.

Softcore

ARMOUR

Softcore Armour No.2

Polyfil, Nylons, ​Confetti, Felt, ​Beading and Mixed ​Media 2022

Dimensions : 17” x ​41” x 22”

About 9 pounds of ​Polyfill

In front of poet Czesław Miłos's bust, I ​contemplate if he would enjoy this work that sits ​in front of him, and I think he would because of ​the philosophy behind it until he saw it was made ​by me. Czesław Miłos was a traditional man who ​looked at "Masculine" culture, art, mind, ​philosophy, action, ideas and logos take ​precedence over "feminine" nature, passivity, ​corporeality and materiality.”

”Czesław looked at women as objects that can be ​liberated into beings by taking advantage of their ​objecthood and owning it within society. Czesław ​Miłos is my audience and my object that I am owning ​by placing armours that protect me from the ​philosophies, from men like Czesław Miłos's, that ​have influenced my need for creating the

The Fort ,

installation in fab gallery

This is my final BFA grad show exhibition at FAB Gallery in ​Edmonton Alberta, Canada. The installation is a fort ​sculpture with accompanying sound and video works. Allowing ​viewers to get a look into my studio research on ​existentialism and all the art I've made during my ​existential crisis in my final year of school.

Title: The ​Fort ​Installation ​Structure

Medium: ​Steel with ​fabric art ​and craft ​hanging

Dimensions:5​.7ft wide ​9ft length ​7.5 ft tall

Date: 2023

I know what I want, I just need to go ​get it, acrylic and found objects on ​canvas, 2023

Mama Bee and Her Babies, Craft ​Blanket, 2022

I know what I want, I just need to go ​get it, acrylic and found objects on ​canvas, 2023

Matrimonial Freedom ​Veil (wearable ​sculpture with bust), ​Headband with Fabric, ​Pearls, Baby ​Memorabilia, LEGO ​Chains, Mirror, 2023

Matrimonial Freedom ​Cake Toppers, ​Childhood Toys, ​Wooden Base, Glass ​Case , 8.2” x 8.2” x ​12”, 2023

The Weight of a Cake, Spackling, Plaster ​castings, spray foam, found objects , 2023

Sorry Mom,

I ruined the curtains having a

Existential Crisis

The Fort ,

installation in pmo studios

The original fort installation takes place inside the PMO Media studios at the University of ​Alberta. I was given two large studio spaces for my final year of my undergrad and I knew I ​wanted to do an installation in one of them and just go balls to the wall inside. This ​installation is my baby, it was created during the last 9 months of my undergrad and I felt ​so lost as to what to do and where to go next. I was having a very organized existential ​crisis and I wanted to explore more into this feeling of uncertainty of the future, and how ​common it has become in this post-pandemic world. The fort combines soft textile work with ​paintings, print, collages and sculptures to tell a narrative of uncertainty in an uncertain ​world, and how we see pillars of certainty like marriage and children and retirement, falter ​in our post-pandemic inflation-led world.

The installation is a blanket fort that occupies the whole 163.24 square foot room. The fort ​has 5 different rooms, The Entrance, The Hallway, Deep Space, The Comfy Area and The Ending. ​Each room has a different theme/ covers the different phases of one's life starting from ​birth and ending at marriage. Each room also has a different sound piece that influences and ​drives the narrative and flow the installation presents. The Fort installation then served as ​the set for my video, ‘Sorry Mom, I Ruined the Curtains Having an Existential Crisis’. The ​video shows details of each room and stars me interacting with the rooms and the objects ​within it, flowing through the installation until reaching the end.

Size of install: ​163.24 square foot ​room

Created in 9 months ​during the last ​year of my ​undergrad

lots of mental ​breakdowns in here ​;(

Running out of Time Blanket and Mobile, ​multimedia craft sculpture, 2022

Life is Full of So Many Choices Divider, ​multimedia craft blanket, 2022

Once Upon a Time, ​You Were Born, ​acrylic and ​crayon painting, ​2022

Lion and Lamb, ​Craft Blanket, ​2022

a walkthrough of ​the beginning ​entrance of the ​Fort ​installation

The Blanket of ​Influence, Multi-​media double-sided ​fabric piece, 2023

We all started in a dark place and were shot out into this overwhelming world of colour, ​sound, texture, traditions, expectations, etc. It feels like everything all at once. I feel ​that way all the time now and I wish I could go back to my newborn self that was a lot better ​at handling having everything be new to you all at once all the time.

It's my Day! Fake Spackle ​Cake and acrylic, 2021

Mama Bee and Her ​Babies, Craft ​Blanket, 2022

My skills I offer for the ​Apocolypse, Found objects,wooden ​box, Acrylic, 2022

I wish I could be ​taken seriously ​and take birth ​control at the ​same time, ​Acrylic on Birth ​Control Warning ​instructions, ​2022

I know what I want, I just need ​to go get it, acrylic and found ​objects on canvas, 2023

The Hallway transition from the Entrance

“Don’t be so melodramatic, the world is falling apart but ​it’s always falling apart”. The world is being thrown ​closer and closer to its demise and we’re supposed to act ​like it's all normal. Capitalism, war, greed, racism, ​prejudice, and inequality have been injected into our ​society as natural flows that have become a part of human ​nature. As a woman, I am meant to play a part in all this, ​a part I don't want to play. I want to honor the legacy of ​those who came before me and are a part of who I am today, ​but I refuse to bring children into this world. I feel ​extremely existential because of these factors and I feel ​like I must shield myself from it, but then I'm considered ​to be melodramatic.

I’m Stressed Out, Here’s a ​List Why, acrylic on paper ​roll, 2019

FUN FACT: this was the final project of my ​first semester of art school, the prompt ​was word/image and I was very overwhelmed ​by my first semester so I made public art ​about it. This project was re-used in the ​fort as a nod to the existentialism I felt ​starting school.

The Blanket of Influence, ​Multi-media double-sided ​fabric piece, 2023

Deep Space Entrance

A Small Pebble in a Big Ocean, ​Craft Blanket, Glow in the Dark ​stars,LED lights and hanging LEGO ​spaceman and rocketship, 2022

Learning about existentialism is ​a lot, it's suffocating almost, ​creating a space and atmosphere ​dedicated to exploring the deep ​dark spaces of life.

Deep Space walkthrough

The all-knowing ORB, ​Sprayfoam, LED, Satin ​Cord, Pearls, 2022

Softcore Armour No.2, Polyfil, ​Nylons, Confetti, Felt, Beading ​and Mixed Media, 2022

Preparing for what’s ahead, ​Found Blanket, Viynl ​letters, 2022

The Comfy Area

We need a break, a moment, a pause from life. ​Sometimes I need to stop everything to make ​sure I’m still there, everyone is always ​watching though so I can’t wait here for too ​long, just long enough to catch my breath.

The Ending Area

This area explores what the end means in life, some may ​think of it as death, and others think of it when one's ​purpose is fulfilled, it's all out of our control. There ​are certain traditions and systems we as a society have ​set up to create control and structure. This has created ​a society built upon the patriarchy and its traditions ​that are made to control women within it. I feel very ​uncertain about the end and what I want but there's this ​illuminating light telling me that everything can be all ​figured out.

The transition from Comfy Area to Ending Area

Title: The Weight of a Cake

Medium: Spackling, Plaster castings, ​spray foam, found objects

Dimensions:26”x 12”x 34”

Date: 2023

The Weight of a Cake, 2023

Matramonial Freedom Window Installed in PMO ​Studio, Cellophane and Vinyl, 2023

The existential

Sculpture Gallery

Title: The Weight of a Cake

Medium: Spackling, Plaster castings, spray foam, found objects

Dimensions:26”x 12”x 34”

Date: 2023

Matrimonial

FREEDOM

I’ve been thinking about the future and what ​that means. I’ve spent a lot of money on this ​degree where I’ve learned how to be an ​independent artist, developing my skills to use ​in the future as a way to provide me purpose in ​this world. I’ve met so many lovely, talented ​and successful women artists in my time at art ​school, and while they are independent ​creators, often the redirect is that women can ​be successful artists but often there are ​partners involved, with secure company benefits ​of some kind.

I’ve been thinking about marriage and all its ​implications and traditions, as well as my own ​personal history. Looking closer at the idea of ​“Matrimonial Freedom” as a safe and secure ​option of financial and social stability, but ​also what sacrifices might entail for the women ​who follow it.

I’ve looked at bridal traditions like the ​origins and historical significance of the ​bouquet toss and wedding veil. Also ​examining modern-day pop culture references ​to matrimonial freedom with shows such as ​90-day fiancé.

Though we are living in “modern times” the ​patriarchy runs strong through our collective ​culture's veins. In a time of “alpha-male” ​culture, the overturning of Roe V Wade, it ​seems more and more internationally and at home ​that women's futures are slipping out of their ​hands. What future can women see outside of ​“matrimonial freedom”?

Fake insurance cards,

one of my profs said

looked super ​believable ;)

these parts are

hidden

when the cake

is fully ​assembled

but they are my

easter eggs that

relate to the ​story

told through

each cake layer.

Title: Matrimonial ​Freedom Veil ​(wearable sculpture ​with bust)

Medium: Headband ​with Fabric, ​Pearls, Baby ​Memorabilia, LEGO ​Chains, Mirror ​Dimensions:36” x ​12” Veil and 15” x ​8.4” bust

Date: 2023

All hand-​sewn, the ​veil is a ​traditional

symbol for ​purity.

Adorne with ​pearls and a ​bow we ​reflect on ​the youth we ​leave behind. ​Weigh down by ​the ​expectation ​of what is to ​come.

Title: Matrimonial Freedom Bouquet

Medium: Fabric Floral Bouquet, ​Spray foam, Acrylic

Dimensions:9” x 8.5” x 8”

Date: 2023

Playing off of the history of the bridal ​flower bouquet.

Traditionally bouquet toss was created as ​way for bride to get a head start running ​away from guests as they would be ​attempting to attack and rip her dress off.

Considered to be good luck for fertility ​and whoever catches the bouquet is ​considered the next to get married and have ​children.

Title: Matrimonial Freedom Cake Toppers

Medium: Childhood Toys, Wooden Base, ​Glass Case

Dimensions:8.2” x 8.2” x 12”

Date: 2023

Figures are used as the wedding cake ​topper models.

The two figures are toys from my ​childhood, I imagined these two getting ​married and living happily ever after. ​These two random McDonald's toys symbolize ​holy matrimony. I thought that the figures ​of a bride and rat are an interesting ​contrast to what is represented as the ​traditional symbols of wedding cake ​toppers.

★₊˚⊹✧˖°. 2022 Parasocial Therapy ERA

In 2022 I was starting to get back into ​research and creation. I took on the topic ​of parasocial relationships and their ​proximity to religious practice and ​worship. I examined my personal history ​with the concept of parasocial ​relationships and how their influences ​shaped my choices and who I am today. I ​realized the similarities between those who ​practice religious faith and my parasocial ​faith were extremely comparable. At the end ​of the year, I got to do an amazing ​community project with Emily Chu, and I ​completed my first large-scale wearable ​sculptures.

Chinatown

Mural mentorship

with

Emily Chu

Location: Edmonton Chinatown ​Multi-Cultural Centre / 9540 ​102 Ave, Edmonton

Funded: Edmonton Arts Council, ​Major Artist Project 2022

A dragon dance is a cultural ​performance practiced during ​new year celebrations, bringing ​luck, prosperity to the ​community. Mural mentees: ​Maddie Post and Serena Tang. ​The project included community ​consultation, mentorship ​programs, and also a ​celebration event on Feb 26, ​2023.

This mentorship was so transformative for me.

Working with Emily and Serena every day for

a month in the Chinatown Multicultural Centre

was so healing. I felt I was connecting back

to the community, I had lost touch with since

the pandemic, allowing me to contribute to something

beautiful in a space that means so much to me!

Thank you to Emily

for this opportunity

you are an absolute

inspiration!

Kidcore

Softcore

And

Armours

The kidcore armour is a representation of ​growing up. When we grow up we are shielded ​and protected from the realities of the world, ​I'm just a kid and then the next thing I know ​I have a credit score. The stress and weight ​of the world growing up is represented through ​this armour and its materiality. I feel every ​day like a kid in dress-up clothes and I often ​find that this outlook leads to my protection ​but also my downfall when it comes to ​accountability in my adulthood. Life was ​easier when I was a kid there was less choice.

Dimensions : 7” x 32” x 26”

About 15 pounds

Materials: Cardboard, Duct Tape, Wire, Plaster ​bandage, mixed media images and mod podge.

Softcore Armour

This armour represents girlhood and growing ​up as a girl experiencing girlhood and always ​feeling watched and judged when it came to ​how and why my body was taking up space. The ​armours two figures have beaded phrases and ​sayings tattooed on their bodies as many of ​these sayings and phrases have been ingrained ​into my body as well. The soft body armour is ​a manifestation of stress, anxiety and ​complete and utter honesty all combined into ​one.

Dimensions : 17” x 41” x 22”

About 9 pounds of Polyfill

Materials: Polyfil, Nylons, Confetti, Felt, ​Beading and Mixed Media

Clay

Sculptures

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Knots

Materials: Baked Clay

Dimensions : 6.5” x 14.5”x 10”

colour customization available

through purchase

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Endure

Materials: Baked Clay

Dimensions: 4"x 6.5"x 11"

colour customization available

through purchase

Resting Figure

A slimy lizard-looking man rests and ​sinks into his environment. It must ​be so easy to blend in.

Dimensions : 6.5” x 14.5”x 10”

Materials: Clay

Life

Celebration of

Betty Lai

On Sunday, June 5th, 2022, we finally got to celebrate ​life for my po po after 2 years.

In those two years, there’s been a lot of grieving and ​growing and art making, lots of you have gotten to know ​my po po through my work and have gotten to feel her ​presence and get to know who she was and the amazing ​person she is.

I’ve been working on a video work for the past couple of ​months to honour her and play at the celebration and ​it’s finally done and is uploaded to YouTube for ​everyone to see.

Thank you to everyone for your kind words and ​inspiration over the years, my po po would be so happy ​that I have others cheering me on with her.

Thank you to everyone who takes time with my work and ​the stories I try to tell.

With love,

Maddie

SHRINE

Circle

The work Shrine Circle is an art installation of ​five homemade shrines, representing the cycle of ​worship I find myself in every phase of my life. ​These idols that I have found myself worshiping ​gave me purpose, joy, sadness, romantic ​influence, or solace during a time of turmoil. ​In the research for the work, I looked at ​religious practices, mainly through the making ​of shrines and home shrines. Through the Shrine ​Circle wanted to explore the connections of ​religion and parasocial relationships, drawing ​connections of the similar feelings that ​parasocial relationships can bring you in ​comparison to those of worship in religion. The ​work includes references to various religious ​iconographic symbols, combined with pop culture ​references and symbols of the parasocial ​relationships relevant in each time era the ​shrines represent.

In the work the five shrines are put into a circle ​with lit candles in each one, all tied together ​with red string and connected to a giant sentient ​blob in the middle emitting its light. I wanted to ​show that these eras and relationships are all ​connected and valued in the same manner, as they ​have all contributed to where I am now. The ​installation of the shrines is meant to be ​welcoming, but also a comfortable space, to ponder ​and examine the shrines and their ​meanings/stories. Each shrine is designed ​completely differently from the next allowing for ​variation but also distinguishing the different ​periods they represent. The Shrines are markers of ​past, present and future allowing viewers to walk ​through the space and piece together the stories ​of my parasocial relationships, and the effects ​they have had on me throughout my life.

Shrine One: 2002-2009 Becoming a person ​through the T.V

When I think back to how I was growing up as ​a kid two words come to mind, quiet and in ​all honesty lonely. I remember having the TV ​on as I would play by myself and make ​friends with the characters on TV. I felt ​connections with these characters, and I ​wanted to be like them and always do the ​right thing or maybe mess up sometimes and ​learn a valuable lesson. I was drawn to the ​TV and the many characters it had to show me ​and I wanted to be like them. I had my best ​friend Ashley who was a year older than me ​who would show me all the cool stuff that ​someone a year older than you would know at ​the time, and she played the role of my big ​sister.

It wasn’t until 2006 when my ​brother Josh was born that I ​finally had someone else in my ​life that I could share and ​pass on all these things I had ​learned. As I grew up the ​idols I worshiped became ​older, and I started to ​fantasize about what my life ​was going to be like when I ​got older. I wanted to be the ​main character, the girl next ​door, the girl who got into ​quirky situations but was able ​to get out of them with style ​and grace. I wanted to be the ​girl on TV.

Shrine Two: 2009-2013 The New Age of ​the Internet

During this time I was entrusted ​with the ability to search and ​explore the internet, pretty much ​with free reign. It started very ​innocently with the want to play ​online games such as Webkinz and ​Club Penguin but very quickly turned ​into something not so innocent. ​YouTube became a big influence in my ​life showing me content creators ​that made and posted whatever they ​wanted.

Coming from the period of TV and more ​specifically children's programming on ​TV, I think it was assumed that the ​content on the internet was also going ​to be curated as well. This was not ​the case and I slowly found myself ​diving deeper and deeper into the ​depths of the internet and the content ​it was promoting at the time, which ​was probably not ideal for a kid my ​age to be watching.I then stumbled ​across fandom culture and from then on ​I was hooked. I became dedicated to ​these teen boy idols, longing for ​romantic relationships, but also a ​community that shared these ideas. I ​was soon attracted to the One ​Direction fan community, and from then ​on I worshipped them and the ground ​they walked on.

Fun fact:

This is a reference to

my family's home computer

that was COVERED in little sticky ​notes of all my various login ​information.

This was a super common vibe ​amongst the neighbourhood kids ​when I would visit their houses so it ​seems like a common 2000's kid ​experience

secret Harry Styles worship room

with PRINTED FANFIC from my own 2012 ​collection

Shrine Three: 2013-2017 A Time of ​Inconsiderable Damage

*tw mentions of depression, eating disorders ​and grooming*

During this time in my life, I was ​incredibly impressionable but also ​incredibly fragile. My self-worth and self-​esteem were being challenged every day in ​the age of social media. I had my security ​blanket of fandom culture and the IRL ​friends I had made from that connection ​still at my grasp, but I was still longing ​for more. I started making connections with ​the 2014 Tumblr grunge aesthetic which ​promoted drug use, depression, anxiety, ​eating disorders, unhealthy relationships ​with older men, the colour black.

I felt comfort in this new ​relationship as it validated the ​feelings of sadness, anxiety and ​discomfort I felt with myself and ​my body. My friends and I embraced ​this lifestyle despite how ​dangerous and damaging it was to ​us. This time in my life was ​extremely problematic and toxic, ​yet I look back on it with rose ​coloured glasses. I remember being ​brought a lot of comfort and ​solace in the idols I worshipped, ​but I realised now that they also ​lead to inconsiderable damage to ​my self worth and how I viewed ​myself.

Shrine Four: 2017-2020 Rebirth

During 2017 I lost everything, I lost all ​the friends I once had, and I had ​disconnected myself from the security idols ​I had once worshiped. I felt entirely lost ​as to who I was as a person and where I was ​going to go from there. I begged for a ​rebirth of my life, a complete and utter ​restart from everything I had once known ​and believed in. I started a relationship ​with the same partner I have now, Seth, and ​he showed me unconditional love and worship ​that I had never experienced before. I ​started thinking more about my future and ​what I was going to do for post-secondary ​schooling, which led to me applying and ​getting into art school.

I also started working on my self-worth and how ​I viewed myself as a person. I began working ​out, eating better and just overall trying to ​perceive myself better than how I had in the ​past. During this time the idols I worshiped ​were very lowkey, as I think I had become ​exhausted and utterly betrayed by the ​parasocial relationships I had in the past. I ​started listening to more podcasts, mainly ​those of figures who were older than me and ​more seemingly, had their lives together. I ​think I was in search of these wiser figures ​who could send me some kind of guidance on how ​I should follow this path of rebirth. As I was ​“worshiping” these idols, I was also trying to ​focus on worshiping myself, something that I ​had been ignoring for a long time.

Shrine Five:2020-Present Day, Seeking ​Relationships to Fill in the Missing Ones

I’ve found myself now in a strange time where I ​feel as though I am constantly moving one step ​forward and three steps backwards. The world is ​now in continuous turmoil, the pandemic has ​launched an unprecedented amount of stress, ​hate and overall gloom in my life. During this ​time I miss my grandmother (po-po) who passed ​away in the middle of 2020. She offered me a ​lot of guidance in my life and I feel that now ​that she is gone I am missing it but also ​trying to seek it from other sources. I look to ​Dolly Parton as my parasocial grandmother, she ​offers guidance to not only me but millions of ​others around the world, "I think it probably ​was his plan for me not to have kids so ​everybody's kids could be mine. And they are ​now,"-Dolly Parton

I am constantly seeking stories and content ​that make me feel whole again, that fill ​the void of disconnect I have been feeling ​ever since the pandemic started, and I ​realized how much I had been missing when ​my Po-po passed on. This era focuses on ​making connections back to my roots through ​parasocial relationships and allowing them ​to fill the void that has been left in my ​grief.

I was greatly inspired by @lan.florence.yee ​and @kiona_wynne project they did called ​‘SEEKING’ in 2020. I was inspired to look ​into what I was seeking in my parasocial ​relationships, which inspired me to make ​these shrines. I give all my thanks to the ​two of them for inspiring this project :)

This work has left a ​lasting impression on ​me as over the past 3 ​months I’ve gotten to ​explore the 5 “eras” of ​my life and the effects ​they have had on me ​going forward. I also ​got to explore and ​research deeper into ​the world of religion ​and worship, something ​that for a long time I ​thought I was ​disconnected from.

Making the work ​brought up feelings ​of grief, sadness, ​happiness, and ​nostalgia, but also ​it gave me clarity ​into some of the ​parasocial ​relationships I held, ​and allowed me to not ​just dismiss them as ​a phase in my life, ​but rather honour ​them and the effects ​they had to make me ​into the being I am ​today.

SHRINE

Circle

research

I’ve been told the way I ​research can also

be considered an artwork.

I lovvvvvve making these ​giant research boards

that detail every idea that ​I have.

WOODBLOCK

When I thought about this project and its ​relation to place and what that means, I kept ​thinking about personal connections to place and ​the idea of disconnections to a place. In my ​artistic practice, I frequently explore the ​cultural diaspora I have towards my Chinese ​Canadian heritage and the increase of loss I have ​felt since the start of the pandemic. I used to ​be connected to the Chinese community in ​Edmonton, spending the weekends with my Po-Po and ​Gong-Gong, and going to their various weekend ​activities. I felt connected to the community, ​whether going to Dim Sum at Emperors Palace with ​their friends for 4 hours or going on day trips ​with the Chinese multicultural centre group. ​Since the pandemic started and my Po-Po, ​unfortunately, passed away, I have had no ​connection to the Edmonton Chinatown Scene.

While working on this print I attended an event ​that the AIYA collective in Edmonton was doing ​about displacement in Chinatown and how we see it ​being pushed further and further away from its ​original location. I found it really interesting ​that as I, myself, was finding a start of ​disconnect from Chinatown as a place, so was ​Chinatown itself.

Printmaking

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Is Luck Enough? Woodblock print 19"x25"

I wanted to represent this using ​the symbolism of the lion dancers. ​Lion dancers are traditionally ​said to bring luck and prosperity ​in the new year; however, due to ​the pandemic, many lion dancers ​have lost their place in the ​community due to canceled ​celebrations. I wanted to ​represent the loss of something by ​having the lion dancer only have ​one-half of itself, walking alone ​down the empty streets of ​Chinatown. I like the lion dancer, ​have lost my other half, and hope ​to rediscover it by exploring this ​place and my connection to it ​alone. The colours I chose are ​meant to show a nighttime somber ​look, while also giving nostalgia ​to the bright beautiful colours of ​Edmonton's Chinatown.

The Deadmonton series, an over ​exaggeration of the events that have made ​me hate the city I used to love.

I miss the old end of the world, the new ​gentrified one makes me sad, I think that ​Edmonton lost its cool factor once it was ​destroyed.

Deadmonton Series 1 (Black)

19"x25"

Collograph Print

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Collograph

Printmaking

Deadmonton Series 1 (Red)

19"x25"

Collograph Print

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Deadmonton Series 1 (Black and Red)

19"x25"

Collograph Print

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

I am a survivor of

being a retail worker

when the mall opened up after

the pandemic.

I saw anti-mask protests and ​shenanigans, got screamed at ​by old men, it was a weird ​time.

Deadmonton Series 2 (Black)

19"x25"

Collograph Print

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Deadmonton Series 2 (Blue)

19"x25"

Collograph Print

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Linocut

Printmaking

Dedicated to the Goblin Girl that lives

in every girl. At the end of the day I live

return to my cave and look at the trinkets and

treasures I accumulated from the day.

Goblin Girl

Available Framed

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Cave Girl/Material Girl

22"x30"

I don't feel very optimistic these days about the future. ​It's so hard to feel positive when a new story of the world ​ending plot is revealed every couple of days, and it seems ​as though we are slowly spiraling to the end. However, I am ​a privileged material girl, working a minimum wage job, ​getting harassed by anti-maskers, all so I can pay for an ​online shopping addiction that gives me a slight boost of ​serotonin. I am a collector of things; I have been since I ​was a child. How I feel comfortable in my space is having ​stuff of my own inside of them. During this time of constant ​crisis, I am collecting so much more than I have before. ​Every object has meaning as it has been a device in comfort ​and happiness during consistent darkness. If you need me, ​I'll be in my cave of treasures blocking out my fear of ​impending doom, searching for more Hello Kitty items on ​Facebook marketplace.

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ 2021 Transition ERA

This year was huge for me, with lots of cool ​opportunities presented me to show artwork

despite there still being a global pandemic. ​I made a lot of really important cultural ​work to finish off my Diploma of Studio Arts ​at MacEwan, which I was extremely proud of ​and confident in. However I knew when I ​started my Bachelor of Fine Arts at the ​University of Alberta, I wanted to experiment ​with as much that was available to me, and ​that was overwhelming. I felt lost in what I ​was making, but I think it allowed me to ​experiment filling the year with so many ​mixed media projects, making it one of the ​most full years of my career so far.

I wanted to transition into finding myself ​apart from my family history and cultural ​connection, and rather focus on where I was ​at in the present by the end of the year.

wood

Sculptures

The Fort

Wooden Sculpture

• I made Fort with the ​intention of making a ​fort to connect back to ​how I started making ​sculptures as a kid.
  
• I realized that trying to ​make sculptures that I ​thought looked abstract ​wasn’t making me happy ​anymore, so I wanted to ​connect back to when I ​first fell in love with ​making big sculptures, ​building forts.
  

• I wanted to make this ​sculpture in the most ​unorthodox ways that ​wouldn’t in any way look ​like anything else people ​were doing in the ​sculpture studio. I ​realized soon that I ​needed to imply some ​techniques of what people ​were doing in the studio ​to allow the project to be ​sturdy and moveable.
  
• I wanted this fort to feel ​like it had a personal ​energy of myself in it so ​I sketched all over its ​four pillars with paint ​markers.
  

A World of my Own

Wood Sculpture

• In a World of My Own was ​created purely out of me ​wanting to not do anymore ​joint connecting and wanting ​to experiment in combining ​wood with other materials.
  
• I grabbed some of my ​favourite materials, moss, ​cellophane, paint, glitter, ​and thought of how these ​things could interact with ​the wood in a way that I ​could consider it a ​sculpture.
  

Lanterns

of Love installation

I am exploring the feelings of grieving and creating a ​dialogue between myself and a loved one who has passed. ​The installation has 18 paper lanterns representing the ​18 months of grieving I’ve experienced. The lanterns ​illuminate different colours to express the feelings of ​grieving during those specific months. The inspiration ​for this concept came from the history of the paper ​lantern in Chinese traditions but also from personal ​family traditions. The paper lanterns were traditionally ​used to signify prosperity and good luck coming into the ​new year. In my family's history, my Po-po was the one ​that taught me how to make paper lanterns, and it was ​often how we would have dialogues of culture, history and ​a home that I had never gotten to visit. I want the ​shapes of the lanterns to mimic those of the flying ​lanterns as they were traditionally used in the 3rd ​century BC in China for signalling between the troops. I ​liked the idea of using the lanterns as a way of ​communication. I want to merge my personal and historical ​connections with the lanterns and use them to communicate ​these feelings of grief with those who have passed.

June 2020

I wasn't ready for you to leave,

There was so much for you to teach me,

How will I know?

I miss you.

July 2020

I'm still in shock, honestly.

I thought you would be here forever.

At least the sun reminds me of you.

I miss you.

August 2020

I'm excited to start school again,

and I know you would be too.

Yes, I'm going to be careful.

I miss your concern.

I love you.

September 2020

Being at school feels normal again,

like you're still here.

But normal would include you texting me

and asking me how my week went.

I hope you are proud of me.

I'm going to make you proud,

happy birthday

October 2020

I'm not dressing up this year for Halloween.

I know how much you always wanted pictures

of our costumes, but I honestly forgot about Halloween.

The months have gone on so fast.

I hope Christmas will go by fast.

November 2020

I've started a new job !!!

Things are finally starting to feel somewhat normal again!

You would have probably loved to visit me at my new job.

I think of you and me going Black Friday shopping

every time I go to the mall.

December 2020

The holidays are here, and we're just trying to get by.

We all miss you so much.

The family can't gather, and I know how much

you would hate a Zoom Christmas.

We made shrimp toasts in honour of you.

January 2021

I think about how the last time we got together

and celebrated was on my birthday last year.

I miss that more than ever.

But we have each other and a giant Hello Kitty balloon.

It's a huge balloon you would love it.

June 2021

It's been one year now since you've been gone

A year has gone by so fast

I'm trying to find happiness in things ​starting to go back to normal

I wish you could be a part of it

February 2021

The lunar new year is in February this year,

just like when I was born.

We had to celebrate as separate

households because of restrictions.

It's Gung-Gungs year,

and we are hoping for some good luck.

I am missing watching the lion dances.

March 2021

It's been one year since the pandemic started.

I don't think you could have

survived this uncertainty.

I feel the most energized I've ever felt.

I'm making things I hope you would be proud of.

April 2021

I'm graduating, but only halfway.

I tell myself that so I don't get

too upset that you are not here.

Everyone is happy, but I know you would be happier.

We made it into a gallery.

May 2021

I am renovating my room right now.

I think it's a distraction to cope with next month

But it feels comforting and exciting!

I think you would have liked the vines I put up.

July 2021

I'm working a lot more now

Just had a lot of distractions lately

I'm nervous for what lies ahead

But I fill it with more distractions; I miss you.

August 2021

I'm nervous about school

I'm sure you would be excited for the both of us

I'm starting to realize now how many life

events you won't be there for

I took it for granted

September 2021

School has started again.

I fought off scalpers for

hello kitty squishmallows at Costco

I think I'm seeking things to feel closer to you.

Happy birthday, we still have cake for you.

October 2021

I'm so busy and tired all the time.

You would be so upset with me working myself like this

I feel like I don't have that control

I miss you

November 2021

I want to connect with you more

I hope you're getting my messages

Hopefully, we can have Christmas together,

and you can see us together

I love you so much.

With ,

Love

someone

You never Met .

A zine I created of collages

dedicated to family members

I never got the chance to

meet that were extremely

influential to my Up bringing in

some way.

sCREENPRINT

Gallery

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

A Love so Pure

2021

Available Framed

Lucky Lions

2021

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

I miss you Jumbo, come ​back.

2021

Oasis

2021

Available Framed

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

AVALIBLE FOR ​PURCHASE

Abstract Allard

2021

Available Framed

I Am My Influence

2021

Epcor

Art Hoarding

I love getting to cover

up ugly construction in

the city with art about the

people I love.

I will forgive that they

misspelled my name...

Sidewalk

Art

OF

gALLERY

Alberta

cinema

The audio in this is bad and the same with the visuals because it’s ​daytime. BUT WE LOVE MY DAD FOR RECORDING THIS because I always ​forget to document and he always has my back :) This is technically ​my first time being shown at the Art Gallery of Alberta !

Watch the full video on YouTube, I Learned How to Make Bread During ​This Thing.

2021

grad show

John & Maggie Mitchell Art Gallery

Students graduating from the Fine Art program at ​MacEwan University in 2021 showcase their art and ​research practices during the annual Fine Art Grad ​Show. This multimedia exhibition is a celebration of ​some of the work students' created over the two ​years, and features drawing, painting, sculpture, ​installation, performance, and intermedia such as ​digital art, video, and emerging forms. The ​participating student artists have all meaningfully ​grown their respective artistic practices as part of ​the Fine Art program, overcoming the obstacles of ​creating during the pandemic in creative ways.

Works shown :

A 500-Piece Puzzle for Your Average ​Chinese Canadain (Sculpture/Video) ​2021

I learned How to Make Bread During ​this Thing (Video) 2020

A

500

Piece Puzzle for your average

Chinese-Canadian ​Halfie

A 500 Piece Puzzle for Your Average Chinese Canadain Halfie

2021

12"x17"-Puzzle Size, 7"x8" Box Size, Paint Markers on ​Cardboard Puzzle, Cardboard Box, Installation

I created this puzzle to represent the loss of culture I ​have felt this past year, with the passing of my ​grandmother and not being able to see the rest of my ​family. I've found myself having to piece together what I ​know about my culture and work forward from that of what I ​can take into the future, which I know will probably ​heavily affected by this time. I can see the loss of ​culture within each generation of my family, so I thought ​that acknowledging those losses in an object that could be ​passed down to various generations, of where I stand right ​now with my culture, could become a way of preventing more ​loss. The puzzle has elaborate drawings of cultural ​identifiers that I understand right now along with the ​things I don't. This puzzle has various phrases discussing ​the areas that I struggle in when it comes to my culture ​being represented by pieces missing small connectors, ​showing that I may never be able to get that connection ​back, but acknowledging it is a step closer to perhaps not ​being disconnected anymore.

I’m

but i think you

not

The Virus

Already Knew That.

I wanted to create a film and installation about the “Stop the ​Asian Hate” campaign and how that affects me. This issue is very ​sensitive to me because I know that I will not be personally ​affected by these attacks because I don’t look “stereotypically ​Asian”, however, my family does, which is a huge fear for me in my ​day-to-day life. These attacks are symbolic of the xenophobic ​racism that has been awoken due to COVID, and it makes me assume ​that this racism will be in society for a very long time. The ​installation is made to show the disregard society and the media ​tend to treat these hate crimes, which inherently shows the ​disregard for Asian lives in society at the moment.

Was nominated to

represent MacEwans

Studio Arts Program for BMO 1st ​Art Prize.

Today

is

Today

Today is Today

2021

22.5" Circumference, 4" Tall, Sculpture

I made this fake cake for a project in which I was supposed to ​explore significance. I decided to create a fake cake to ​represent the idea that human beings give meaningless things ​significance, such as cake, it can represent, holidays, ​birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. but it’s just a ​dessert. I wanted the cake to say something on it like “today” ​or “today is today” just to show how mundane cake could be but ​how highly we think of it. I think the "Today is today" ​messaging can also relate to the celebration that I think we ​as humans living through a global pandemic should have just ​for being alive and healthy every day, being that life now can ​be so scarce and change in an instant.

my first fake ​cake :D

This was re-used in Shrine ​Circle and The Fort PMO. She ​looks like the Max and Ruby ​cake now !

ꃋᴖꃋ 2020 COVID ERA

This Era was all about discovering myself at home during lockdown while actively ​grieving the loss of my Po-Po. I started the year thinking I knew exactly what was ​ahead of me starting my second semester of art school. I was rocked by the COVID-19 ​Pandemic and having my whole art school education switched to online. I had to switch ​the way I was approaching art as I had to do it all at home. This is where I ​discovered a love for video making/sound editing. I learned how to make soundscapes ​and write scripts to tell stories as well as interview family members for creative ​research. This year was extremely transformative as I grieved very publicly making art ​that was very close to my family and their personal stories.