Email maddieamie@gmail.com for inquiries.

Artist Statement

I paint airships because I want to experience the wanderlust of having a home that could float anywhere, and bring a bubbliness to anyone who saw the balloons. I am inspired by impossible machines, like in Miyazaki’s work, as well as steampunk stories of dirigibles. Popular media like Howl’s Moving Castle, Treasure Planet, and Bioshock Infinite brings me great joy. I am enchanted by the freedom of flight, and the promise of a sail on the horizon.

When I focus on portraits, I draw from the wild energy of the fey, sirens, and witches in all womxn. I relate to a changeling fey, dropped in the human world. Who doesn’t secretly want the power to change your surroundings, to glamour yourself into anything, to have immortal hours to hone your craft? I am always drawn to the cheekbone, direct gaze, and impish smile of the femme and masc alike. I hope to portray the inner power of each person I paint.

This world can be dark, cold. Growing up with severe anxiety, and then accruing chronic pain in endometriosis, migraines, and tendonitis as I grew older...it all seemed to build into a weight I could not shed. When I look up into the clouds and start to paint them, I feel a lightness of being. To me, the purpose of creating and consuming art is to capture and project light into the darkness of this world. I paint for refuge, hope, and empowerment.

Biography

Maddie Amelia Lewis (they/them) is a queer artist driven by their passion and empathetic nature. She graduated with a double B.A. in Art & Psychology at UC Santa Cruz in 2015, and received a Master in Teaching from Seattle University in 2019. They live in Seattle, WA with their cat and partner.

Their work, in general, falls within the new contemporary art movement of lowbrow pop-surrealism. Their surrealist landscape paintings are influenced by wanderlust and a lifelong obsession with fantasy worlds. They are inspired by putting themself in natural parks, florals, cloudscapes, and the freedom of flight. Their figure paintings draw energy from fey, mysticism, and circusy whimsey.

They are currently an emerging artist, and showing in local venues and festivals while perfecting their craft. Their work is in a fledgling state of transformation, though their voice is beginning to strengthen.

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