about
I view the world with an interest in trying to understand how others express themselves visually in the spaces they occupy. Be this through their choices in clothing, decor, or even pets. I record these visual choices to develop portraits of people. With animals at the centre of most things considered kitsch, I’m intrigued by the idea of questioning the intellectual credibility of artworks featuring animals.
My most recent series explores scenes from a documentary, My Child Is A Monkey. A community of women in the USA, who call themselves ‘monkey moms’, controversially keep monkeys as pets, often raising them as surrogate children. Domestic scenes are shown where fear grimaces are mistaken for smiles, and a diabetic monkey is encouraged to eat her salad with dressing. I screen-captured such moments as references, and titled the paintings after quotes from each scene.
I’ve started making work from a dream diary that I’ve kept for over five years. Similar to working from video references, dreams have a filmic quality to them. Naturally, you influence the subject of your dreams through personal experience, but you cannot control its direction, you are just an observer as scenes unfold. I’ve begun a series based on dreams I’ve had about hamsters dying, a surprisingly frequent theme I discovered while transcribing my dreams into a searchable digital archive. I plan to continue working more from my imagination, as I attempt to recall how I pictured the events of each dream.
2017
Foundation Diploma, Camberwell College of Arts
2020
BA Fine Art, Chelsea College of Arts
2021
Correspondence Course, Turps Banana
2021
Drawing Intensive Term, The Royal Drawing School
2022
Associate Studio Programme 7
Exhibitions
May 2017, Foundation Summer Show, Camberwell College of Arts
Mar 2018, This is Tuesday, Windmill Brixton
Mar 2019, Animal Requiem, Asylum Chapel
Sep 2019, Made in Arts London, TM Lighting Gallery
Feb 2020, Interim Exhibition, Chelsea College of Arts
Jul 2020, UAL 2020 Graduate Showcase
Sep 2020, Royal Academy Summer/Winter Exhibition
Oct 2020, 24/7, The Shop Front
Feb 2021, Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painters, Burgh House Hampstead
Feb 2021, In Absentia, cohort.art
Mar 2021, Small Rooms collective, https://www.instagram.com/imprint5848/
Jun 2021, New English Art Club, Mall Galleries
Aug 2021, In Response, Bow Arts Nunnery
Nov 2021, The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog, cohort.art
Dec 2021, Drawing as Looking: works on paper, Hoxton 253
Jan 2022, In Formation, Thames-Side Studios
May 2022, Emergence, AMP Gallery
Jul 2022, Crouch End Tiger Hidden Banana, The Original Gallery
Nov 2022, Kisses, Associate Studio Programme
Awards
2018, Nominated for Painters’ Company Scholarship
2020, Awarded Jackson's Painting Prize, animal category
2020, Shortlisted for The Artists' Collecting Society Studio Prize, selected as an ACS member https://artistscollectingsociety.org/members/maddy-buttling/
2021, Awarded Holly Bush Emerging Woman Painter Prize for best figurative painting
2022, Awarded place on Associate Studio Programme 7
Press
2020, Jackson’s Art https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2020/09/15/maddy-buttling-artist-interview/
2020, Royal Academy of Arts https://www.instagram.com/p/CGwywkoqufB/
2021, New English Art Club https://www.mallgalleries.org.uk/about-us/blog/qa-with-maddy-buttling
2021, Dead Pet Girls https://www.instagram.com/p/CUaaPCso8wP/
2022, Royal Academy of Arts https://www.instagram.com/p/CcNX53hsZ3p/
2022, Petra Hartl http://www.petrahartl.at/hundundkunst/2022/07/18/maddy-buttling-kitsch-nein-authentisch-sentimental/