July 2014

Jackie Madsen

Artist statement
I find it hard to characterize my work. I am influenced by the study of art and I look to my artistic heroes for inspiration, but I don’t think I fit into a stylistic period or can say there is one particular artist I emulate. I am a buffet, changing, evolving every day. There is a story, a narrative contained within each piece. Some of the images are actual experiences, and speak for themselves; others may not have such a clear voice. The actual process of charcoal to paper or brush to canvas is my inspiration. Each piece evolving from the moment. Tentative traces and bold marks reflect the progression. The numbers and letters cement the idea.

Biography
Jacklyn graduated from Kutztown University  with a BS in art education, and continued graduate work at Millersville University,The Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in Philadelphia, Maryland College of Art , and Penn State University.  Jacklyn currently is retired from a 25 year teaching career from Donegal High School, teaching advanced level drawing and painting classes. Teaching is her love and inspiration and many of her students have gone on to successful careers in the fine and applied arts. Jacklyn currently teaches classes at the York Art Association, and conducts private art instruction for adults and children. Jacklyn exhibits her paintings and mixed media artworks locally in Lancaster, York, and Harrisburg. Her work has been shown at the Lancaster Museum of Art,Philadelphia Academy of Fine Art, The Print Shop Gallery in Philadelphia, Millersville University, the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg, and the York Art Association.Prizes include 3rd. Place in works on paper in The Art of the State, 2013 Keystone National exhibit for works on paper.
Jacklyn currently resides in Mount Joy, Lancaster County, with her 2 dogs, Max and Sergie. Her children Aja, Dylan, Matthew, Tyler and her Mentor Robert Andrulli provide encouragement and inspiration.

Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus, who proposed in his “System of Nature”

(1735) that “man, when he enters the world, is naturally led to enquire who

he is; whence he comes; whither he is going, and for what purpose he is

created.” His ‘System’, called Linnaean taxonomy,( a Biological

classification system),creates three kingdoms, animal, vegetable, and

mineral.

Questioning what direction this body of work would follow,I  remembered a

game I played in elementary school. The game of 20 questions; a game that

started with ‘is it a animal, vegetable, or mineral’. It gave me focus and

direction; Linnaeus’s proposal questioning our existence speaks to my

artistic soul.

The lines in my work are like threads linking one element to another,

creating a story, suggesting a journey. I love the immediacy of charcoal on

paper and this body of work represents this relationship. The addition of

color in some of the pieces represent my attempt to bridge wet and dry media

with the same energy of a drawing. Tentative traces and bold marks reflect

the progression. The numbers or letters; a date, a thought, added to

complete the story.

My work like my life is always evolving. I find inspiration everyday and

from many sources. As Pablo Picasso said “The artist is a receptacle for

emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth,

from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider’s web.”