Artist Madelynn Mae Green’s studio is as much a space for paint-based exploration as it is a hub for research, highlighting that her days spent in academia are far from over. Rather, Green’s family background in music complements her artistic practice, with written notes, images and screenshots of youth scenes from house and dance raves from the 80s and 90s pinned up on the walls as points of reference and documentation. The artist claims her studio to be “a holistic snapshot of all that goes into her paintings”, which seems rather apt given her interest in photography. The routine the artist follows when arriving to the studio is to change into her painting clothes, wash her brushes, mix the colours and work on the paintings whilst listening to music until it starts to feel repetitive. The diverse bodies on the canvases that adorn the perimeter of the room also appear unified through this repetition, as the paintings are harmonised through their palette, composition, scale, thematic content and rhythm and captured almost in-between snapshots, further communicating nostalgia through their ethereal style. The artist herself, sat poised on a chair near a painting of an open door, invites us into this space of liberation, her depictions of nightlife evoking spirituality and renewal. Wanting to immerse myself in the relationships that are happening in these scenes, the youthfulness and history, I find myself spiralling deeper into the ghostly crowds before me.
