The world was already an uncertain and unknowable place before the pandemic, but the threat to and failure of structure resulting from global shutdown has pushed uncertainty to the forefront of everyday life, exposing the obvious fragility in, and tenuousness of, any idea of normalcy.

I have responded to this situation by making drawings that are more visually suitable for an online platform. The quickness of drawing allows me to formulate thoughts with immediacy. Image manipulation and collaging using my iPad widens the potential of complexity, fragmentation, and loss of control. My drawings serve as visual reflections of non-linear, discontinuous thought processes. I use drawing as a way of working which is directly responsive to an accumulation of images, objects, and ideas inspired by my everyday life and routine.

My process is a place for me where uncertainty is embraced and confusion is legitimized. I use humor and play to navigate this uncertainty by embracing the absurdity and ridiculousness of everyday life. The studio, whether it be a space provided by an institution at school, or a makeshift set-up on my apartment kitchen table, is a space where I can surprise myself. I feel best in the studio when I don't know what's going to happen; when I can break rules and think critically and expansively.

These drawings are informed by my experience of navigating this weird world: particular things I notice, dumb things I imagine, collaborations with my cat, an argument I had with a professor, a philosophical text, an insecurity, a dad joke, or the arrangement of rotten food in my garbage can.

These things illustrate this particular time, and these drawings articulate my response to living in this moment, making art that can only be seen through the conceptual and literal filters of the pandemic. At least for now…

madymaszk.com /// @madymaszk