Madeline Donahue: “Walk through Wildflowers” Ceramic Edition
July 31st - August 31st, 2024Nina Johnson is pleased to announce the release of Madeline Donahue’s first ceramic edition.
The original work, a functional vase based on her painting, “Walk through Wildflowers,” was handbuilt in Donahue’s Brooklyn studio. That original was then cast into a multiple by ceramic artists at Greenwich House Pottery, a New York City ceramic institution. Two perspectives of a summer’s walk, both the arrival and departure, are depicted in relief and can be seen from either side of the work. This work was inspired by a walk with her family near Hudson, NY. New York state is lush with rain and vegetation in the summer which connects Madeline to the tropicals bayous of Houston, TX where she was raised. The work is a nod to the continued growth of her children and the experience of being together while naturally and inevitably growing apart. The ceramic arrives in a closed signed edition of 100.
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Madeline Donahue, Walk through Wildflowers, 2024, Glazed Ceramic, 12 x 11 x 7 in. Edition of 100.
The vase is a unique example of Donahue’s ceramic work and the only example of her ceramic work in multiple. Her ceramics are created by drawing onto slabs of clay. Each mark creates a relief which is then difficult to reproduce. “Walk Through Wildflowers” marks an exciting opportunity to experiment- an essential part of the ceramic process. In addition to this edition, Madeline makes paintings, drawings and ceramics that center on her experiences of pregnancy, birth, motherhood and owning a postpartum body. Her practice focuses on the surreal reality, physicality, emotionality and interdependence of these experiences. Intimacy is at the core of all of her work, addressing the simultaneous existence of abject and sublime facets implicit in the relationship with her children and her body.
For more information and to place your order, please email info@ninajohnson.com.
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Reverse side of Madeline Donahue's "Walk through Wildflowers," 2024, Glazed Ceramic, 12 x 11 x 7 in. Edition of 100.
Madeline Donahue (b. 1983, Houston, TX) makes paintings, drawings and ceramics that center on her experiences of pregnancy, birth, motherhood and owning a postpartum body. Her practice focuses on the surreal reality, physicality, emotionality and interdependence of these experiences. Intimacy is at the core of all of her work, addressing the simultaneous existence of abject and sublime facets implicit in the relationship with her children and body. These explorations detail these experiences - working through the isolation, fatigue, failure, anxiety, and joys of parenting. In Donahue’s work, pendulous breasts flap, stretched belly skin sags or flows. Many of her works include “bathers” - a nude figure moving through water, referencing Modernist portrayals of bathing women. She also references gymnastics, sports, and the “circus” of motherhood through titles, in the posture of her figures, and other visual representations. Each work is made efficiently in a fresh and fluid process that communicates and captures the immediacy of a present moment to create art. Madeline Donahue’s solo exhibitions include “Fun House” with Praise Shadows Gallery, Boston; “Warm Up” with Artshack Brooklyn, and “Attachments” with Steven Harvey Fine Art Projects in New York. She has participated in Untitled Art Fair and NADA Fair (Miami, FL) and exhibited extensively with galleries and museums across the US and UK including Johansson Projects (Oakland, CA), Lauren Powell Projects (Los Angeles, CA), Hesse Flatow (New York, NY), Deanna Evans Projects (Brooklyn, NY), and the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston, MA). Residencies include The Wassaic Project, Byrdcliffe Artist Colony, Artshack Ceramic Residency and Interlude Artist's Residency in Livingston, NY. Donahue’s work has been reviewed in the Guardian, Hyperallergic, and Elephant Magazine. Interviews include Sound + Vision Podcast, I Like Your Work Podcast, and Artist Mother Podcast. She recently participated in “A Conversation on Alice Neel, Art, and Motherhood” facilitated by Lauren Palmor, assistant curator of American art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. Donahue holds a BFA from The School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University (Boston, MA) and MFA from Brooklyn College (Brooklyn, NY). Madeline Donahue lives and works in Brooklyn, NY.