Dallas’ Leatherology Hosts Artist’s Talk With Madeline Donahue and Nina Johnson Gallery
A Conversation About Motherhood Amongst Blooming Poppies
By Melissa Smrekar
Photography by Kaitlin Saragossa Photography
Prior to Mother’s Day this Sunday, Leatherology (a Dallas-based leather accessories brand) co-founder Rae Liu recently opened her home to host a conversation with Texas-born, New York-based artist Madeline Donahue in conjunction with Nina Johnson Gallery. Upon entering Liu’s abode, works from Donahue lined the hallway, illuminating the white walls with color and a portrait of motherhood. When asked how Donahue’s work speaks to her, Liu said, “Madeline’s work captures the chaos, humor, and tenderness of motherhood in such an honest and relatable way. It reflects the contradictions we live every day, and as a mother, I feel incredibly seen by her art.”
Feeling seen is exactly why Liu also wanted to host an event like this. “I wanted to create space for a real, personal conversation around art and motherhood,” Liu said. “Madeline’s work speaks to that so clearly, and sharing it in my home felt like a natural extension of how much it resonates with me.”
Before the conversation began, guests enjoyed coffee and pastries while mingling with one another. Fittingly, Leatherology embossed leather keychains featuring Donahue’s artwork with guests’ initials. Outside, on the perfect spring morning, attendees admired Liu’s incredible cutting garden, where the blooming poppies, in punchy shades of pink and orange, took center stage. “I told you I had grandma hobbies,” Liu said to me (a needlepointer) with a wink.
Dallas Contemporary Assistant Curator Emily Edwards moderated the open-hearted and convivial conversation with Donahue. She offered her perspective on why women, especially, are so drawn to the artist’s work.
“Madeline’s work gives visual language to an experience many women live but rarely see centered in contemporary art —motherhood not as a burden or metaphor, but as a site of intimacy, labor, and joy. Women are drawn to it because it feels both familiar and radical — honest about the chaos and vulnerability, yet unapologetically beautiful.”
In advance of Mother’s Day, we asked Donahue why she thinks sharing space with other mothers is special and how motherhood impacts her work.
“As an artist, I’m impressed by the variety of ways people interpret the work. There is never one reading of an artwork or theme. My work is very intimate but also universal — we all came from somewhere. Sharing space with other mothers validates the variety of lives we all live and reminds me that the work, though a characterization of my own experiences, is about everyone.”
She continued, “When working in my studio, I am hyper-focused on completing one work at a time. When I share space with other mothers, the image unravels. I discover, with the viewer, myriad connections in the work. Making space for another person to feel “seen” is an indescribable and unexpected joy that has come from my practice.”
A collector of Donahue’s art, Liu said the pieces make her smile every time she sees them. “There’s warmth and humor in her work that brings lightness to my space, but also a deeper reminder that the messiest, most vulnerable moments are often the most meaningful.”
Madeline Donahue is represented by Nina Johnson Gallery in Miami, Florida.
Read the article online on Paper City.
