ARTIST STATEMENT
My practice explores the confusion I feel when I think of myself as a “sexual being.” As a very fortunate, twenty year old white woman, whose consciousness resides in a quite conventional looking body, my confidence often teeters on the line of feeling overexposed. I wish to test the unclear boundary between exploitation and empowerment. To me, the journey of completing a painting must feel as intense as the finished product reads.
I typically begin with a radical idea, where I portray myself doing something vulgar that makes me (as a woman and an artist) feel powerful, yet as I begin to render my emotions and observe the thoughts and opinions of others, doubt starts to seep into my mind… turning confidence into anxiousness. Going through this emotional rigor is vital to my work, because if I don’t feel these paintings as I make them, how are the viewers supposed to sympathize and perceive? It is this feeling, the changing back and forth from having an assertive attitude about my body to feeling scared and vulnerable, that I am painting about from the perspective of myself as a young woman. When I sexualize myself, I have power over my own body, but it is when that power is taken out of my hands and given to another, I become unprotected.
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Maddie Lee was born and raised in Bradley Beach, NJ. From a young age she was inspired and in constant awe of her mother (who is currently a working artist) and followed in her footsteps to peruse a career in painting. Maddie is currently in her third year in the undergraduate program at The School of The Art Institute of Chicago and on track to obtain a BFA in studio art. Now based in Chicago, she will continue to add to her feminist body of work to hopefully make change and have a voice in the ever evolving political environment she has found herself immersed in.
© Maddie Lee