Hello, I'm Madaline de Laszlo

My work is mainly sensory and stems from wanting people to feel included and benefit from the artwork. I want the work to carry a sense of comfort, balance and calm, by using neutral tones and soft blues invoke the element of calm and grounding while the use of tactile mediums suggests an invitation to engage with the artwork on a deeper level, encouraging a sensory experience.

 I use circles mainly as it symbolises wholeness and continuity this restores a feeling of peace and simplicity within the work. This is contradicted by the intricacy of how I make the work, almost therapeutic, winding the twine in a continuous loop around itself to create a spiral effect then overlapping circles over each other. While creating this pattern I asked members of my family with sensory issues to describe the peace based on feel, an answer in particular, I really enjoyed was that it felt like a tortoise shell, hence the name of my main piece of this term. I like the fluidity of the twine I use as it has an ease to it as well as the neutral tone, I haven’t experimented with other mediums yet however, I have some ideas for future works.

My main inspiration for the work I am making are ripples in water, last term I started with photography and ripples in nature. Combining the two themes I have resulted in a more sensory practice and one that’s inclusive to every audience. My recent works have mainly been targeted at people with sensory issues, I am looking into other sensory aspects to further develop my practice.

Madaline is a Canterbury based, multi-disciplinary artist studying full-time on UCA's MA course. She is also a freelancing photographer in her spare time as well as a dedicated reader researching the art world and what it offers. Madaline has had multiple concepts in the past, stemming from different points of inspiration. Since finding her voice within a small community, her work with sensory art has grown and flourished into a engaging practise. While Madaline has been making her own pieces and trying to establish herself in the art world,  she has also been working with children around the community with special needs. From small classes at scout group meetings to running self funded outreach programs for children and young adults to express themselves through art.