Michael Madden

My work is informed by a childhood on Lake Huron, three years lived in the Western Arctic, postgraduate studies in the US, living and working abroad, and life lived in Wellington County during an “in between” time where the landscape continues to be disrupted and re-formed by human interference.

Having relied upon a pencil for over thirty years as a Set Designer there is a certain consistency that my current work is rendered with coloured pencil directly upon wood panel. The wood grain remains visible and integral: the medium remains on the surface of the harder wood fibres, allowing light to “occupy” the “in-between”.

The focus of my artistic practice remains a celebration of the simplicity and beauty of our rural and natural landscapes, which we often take for granted and which can so easily be irretrievably lost. Untamable cloudscapes predominate within my compositions and look to initiate contemplation of what is at stake and the role our choices and inertia play in the midst of our relentless environmental disruption. These pictures are then memory exercises reminding us of the stewardship with which we have been entrusted.

I have a design degree from TMU (Ryerson) and an MA from Yale University.

Given the medium, I prefer those interested in purchasing see my work in person.
Appointments can be arranged via email. Delivery available within the GTA.