Madison Dowling, Screen Printing

Artist Statement

In my mixed media installation, I am allowing the viewer to experience my childhood home as it exists in my rawest emotional memories. Wood grain relief print panels are arranged to create a theatrical backdrop for heavy metal posters and a As an individual born in the ‘90s , I feel nostalgic for a time period that I have only experienced through LIFE magazines. While the ‘60s was a time shaped by war, sexism, alcoholism, and poverty, the advertisements in LIFE portrayed an unattainable perfection. In my current body of work, I am interested in appropriating advertisement imagery to investigate the dichotomy between reality and perceived perfection within themes of addiction and recovery.

I am using digital prints of scanned and collaged ‘60s imagery as a background for my silk-screened elements, which have been inspired by LIFE magazines advertisements. Each layered print is paired with a collage to emulate a magazine spread. A scale weighed down by alcohol explores the narrative of addiction, while a dead bird lies torn alongside a glistening cube of ice. This diptych represents the fine line between pleasure and destruction. Another pair shows the text “SIMPLE RIGHT” repeated on top of glasses filled to the brim, and a collage of a woman whispering layered with scenes of war, reflecting the fear and misunderstanding around alcohol. I aim to abstract the truths I have been taught about addiction and question them in the form of a propagandistic advertisement spread.

Image: Nuclear (Detail). Screen print on digital inkjet print / 24 x 30 in.