Madeline Kidd
Painted Gardens
9 July - 2 August 2014
Madeline Kidd’s practice can be defined as the curating of contemporary artworks, representational or abstract, into real and pseudo-domestic settings. The sculptures, paintings, installations and theatrical designs that she produces are conceptualized as ‘set pieces’ or what is known as ‘costume sculpture’. Commonplace and familiar icons of interior decoration, such as paintings, floral arrangements, fruit plates, and abstract sculptures are appropriated and recreated in her work.
Kidd’s work as an art director for film and theatre has had a direct influence on her art practice. As part of the 2010 Next Wave Festival, she exhibited Washroom, an installation inside the change rooms at the Melbourne Cricket Ground where the rooms were elaborately dressed like a set, creating a fictitious reality of the MCG’s inner sanctum. Recent exhibitions include Decor8 in the window space at Craft Victoria, Lifestyle Concept at Daine Singer, Sculpture Party at C3 Gallery, the Third/fourth Melbourne artist-facilitated biennial at the Margaret Lawrence Gallery and Industrial Estate in Heidelberg West. She has curated several exhibitions including Sushichampagnepaintingsculpture, which situated artwork within a domestic space, another theme of her work.
