As graduation approaches, Wichita State art students are preparing for a thesis show at Harvester Arts in April.
One of those artists, Madison Mullen, is exploring the effect that the internet and social media have had on her experience and the way others perceive her. Torin Andersen caught up with Mullen in her studio on campus in Henrion Hall.
In the spirit of her work, Andersen interviewed Mullen while she used another person’s voice.
Madison Mullen is an interdisciplinary artist who works in various mediums, including performance, which is being showcased during this interview through a surrogate body.
“I'm a queer woman interested in identity as it shifts between digital and physical spaces,” Mullen said through her surrogate.
Mullen's friend Carlos is acting as the surrogate body. Carlos is dressed similarly to Mullen, donned with a crimson wig to match. They’re close friends, so Carlos is steeped in Mullen’s work and ethos. Though the surrogate body is speaking for Mullen, Carlos still has notes to draw from during the interview.
“It's about this dissonance between the lived reality and the digital reality,” Mullen said.
It’s a way to buffer herself from the work. And that space between realities is the core of what Mullen tries to explore. Mullen grew up on the internet.
“I was creating avatars online, different personas,” Mullen said. “That message comes through in the physical work. But this interview seemed like the perfect opportunity to put that same concept into a performance.”
As Mullen’s work becomes more personal, the distance between Mullen “the person” and “the work” helps skew the interpretation.
“As a queer woman, the perception others create of me is often misconstrued or silenced,” Mullen said. “This particular surrogate allows for my voice and message to be heard somewhat anonymously, where that perception is intentionally blurred.”
Mullen’s thesis show at Harvester Arts is a collection of paintings. She said the show is separated into two bodies of work.
“The first titled, ‘Explore Me,’ [is] a collection of eight paintings that, together in their display, are intended to suggest a social media ‘Explore’ page,” Mullen said.
“We have a figure whose face is obscured. We see basically the body, the Bomb Pop, and kind of a ‘pop art bomb,’ almost. We see bombs almost in comic book writing. The ad is actually from American Eagle and Sidney Sweeney.”
The other body of work, titled “Bleach on the Floors,” explores more of a narrative between a bird and a deer figure that are both representations of Mullen, as well as the female experience in general. In her life, she said she has shifted between prey and scavenger, though never predator.
“It has the raster form of Photoshop, and it's almost like the image is being rendered in front of us through the screen,” Mullen said. “I collect images from digital spaces, often advertisements, and I digitally collage them, then project the image onto canvas and paint based off of that digital collage. So the work has this interesting cycle of being birthed from the digital, being executed in hand, then inserted back into the digital, where it's posted online.”
Mullen has been seated next to the surrogate body for this interview, sometimes typing the responses. The exhibit will be in person, but will the surrogate body also be present at the Harvester Arts thesis show?
“I think we're leaning closer to having the surrogate present, maybe not fully representational, as I'll feel a little bit more comfortable speaking myself,” Mullen said.
