Art in Isolation: An Interview with MFA Student Madeline Gallucci
Screenshot #3, acrylic, gouache on paper, 16 x 13 inches. Image courtesy of Madeline Gallucci.
As remote learning rolls into place at universities and colleges across the globe, the typical student experience has radically changed. Art departments are turning to technologies like Zoom to recreate the traditional in-person critique and graduation exhibition experiences for their students. But despite these massive shifts in practice, artists are still, well, making art. We spoke with second year MFA student Madeline Gallucci about the effect that the pandemic has had on her practice as an artist and art student.
Selfie of the artist in a window of closed laundromat
Image courtesy of Madeline Gallucci.
Like many people right now, you've had to transition from your workplace to your home. How has integrating your professional practice into your private space impacted your art and your process?
Like many MFAs across the country, I’ve transitioned my studio and learning environment to my home, and more specifically, my living room in Humboldt Park. This has offered immediate challenges in the scale of my work and access to equipment; however, I’ve experienced more freedom in when and how often I engage with my practice. My home studio has allowed me to work late into the evenings and in between Zoom meetings, and has facilitated a new relationship to my domestic space. I’ve really pared down what is important to me and shifted back to the basics of drawing and painting.
What is like to make art in isolation and at a distance?
Many artists make in isolation, so there is not too much of a change in this regard. Making is typically followed by viewing, and right now, even though it is better to get feedback and see the work in person, I’m finding virtual platforms and social media are actually making it easier to connect. I am honestly struck by the generosity of artists, curators, and teachers from across the country who are making themselves available for virtual studio visits since they want to help current MFAs/artists that are losing visibility because of canceled or postponed exhibitions.
A collection of works in progress. Image courtesy of Madeline Gallucci.
How has this impacted your collaborations and conversations with other artists?
I’ve been in contact with a couple other MFAs in other institutions in Chicago and around the country. It is interesting to be positioned in this moment together, either in the middle of or finishing our education, and the anticlimactic feeling we are all experiencing. I am interested in opening up conversations about shifts in modes of working. In addition to my studio practice, I’m working on a project called BEFORE/after through my curatorial project RADAR that is giving me space to showcase how artists are adapting, speeding up or slowing down.
For you, what do you feel is the place of art in your life right now?
Art is giving me a chance to recenter myself, live more intentionally and be an outlet to process the pandemic. I am creating a series of mirror paintings and self-portraits taken from screenshots in Zoom. They are tabletop sized and can be worked through quickly. I see these as direct ways to speak about our current situation, what it is like to socially engage through a screen, and to reframe and recognize our anxieties. I am also working on a series of photos taken during walks around neighborhoods in Chicago that speak to placemaking in this time.
Mirror (in bathroom), acrylic on paper, 17 x 13 in. Image courtesy of Madeline Gallucci.
I Was Born Swimming by Squirrel Flower
What’s a piece of art/song/movement/dance/etc. that is helping you feel grounded or bringing you a measure of peace and calm right now?
I have been listening to a lot of really good music and watching a lot of bad reality television. I Was Born Swimming by Squirrel Flower and Sacracorpa by Matchess are two albums I’ve had on repeat while I’m painting. I’ve become fascinated with marriage-based reality TV such as Love is Blind, 90 Day Fiancé, and Marrying Millions. I find that these hyper-sensationalized shows serve as a palette cleanser and comedic relief in this moment, but simultaneously engage in my deeper research interests in performativity of gender and the self. I’ve also been rediscovering my love for Rainer Werner Fassbinder.
Madeline Gallucci (b. 1990) graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2012 and currently lives in Chicago, IL, where she is pursuing her MFA at the University of Chicago. Madeline has exhibited at UGLY, Chicago, IL, Superdutchess Gallery in New York, NY, Rebekah Templeton in Philadelphia, PA, Skylab Gallery in Columbus, OH, Terrault Contemporary in Baltimore, MD, Pelican Bomb Gallery X in New Orleans, LA, Plug Projects, 21C Museum + Hotel and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art in Kansas City, MO. Collections include the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art in Overland Park, KS. From 2014-2018, Madeline was Co-Director of Front/Space, an innovative project space located in Kansas City, MO. Her new project, RADAR, looks to further explore her interests of artist-as-curator and the intersections of these roles in midwestern communities.