2023 Senior Exhibition Artists

Madeline Gail Peach

Art + Design: Integrated Studio Arts

About Madeline Gail Peach

Madeline Peach is an Integrated Studio Arts Major pursuing a BFA at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Her work deals with intimacy and vulnerability from a queer perspective, using her own life as source material. She is the recipient of the South Coast artists youth grant and the New Bedford Creative ARTnet grant.

Statement

All I ever wanted to be was smaller. I’ve found refuge from this compulsive desire by allowing myself space in the work. This group of autobiographical paintings depict tender moments from my day to day life. Portraits of my partner and I provide queer representation void of hyper sexualized or traumatic imagery, with this I begin to disrupt heteronormative narratives, and provide images of queer joy.

In focusing on the figure through a queer feminine gaze I create colorful and carefully composed oil paintings that allow bodies who are often asked to shrink, a place to be vulnerable and take up space. Candid photos often acting as my source material allow insecurities to penetrate the most loving of images. Through eye level and framing the casual nature of the references invites the viewer in as a participant rather than a voyeur. There is sympathy and authenticity to the rendering of each subject, with careful consideration put into capturing the volume of the forms. My emphasis is always on the sense of touch, creating works that are tender and where each push and pull of the skin is felt. Thoughtfully placed line and vivid color work to exploit the most tense areas, helping each to feel uncomfortably intimate.