Madeleine Gross And Her Visceral Photo Art

Toronto-based mixed media artist Madeleine Gross seeks to explore how the abstract interacts with the everyday in her colorful, imaginative artworks.

For Gross, inspiration is found in the nature that surrounds us and in people going about their everyday tasks: women sunbathing at the beach or simply walking the city streets, depictions of oceans and skies are the subjects of her work. Here, within the varied and inspiring pockets of the physical world, Gross attempts to create new narratives, by adding a few bright strokes of paint to her pictures. Using different colors to reflect the mood, she gives her photos a very visceral, tangible quality. Merging the reality of the honest photograph with her abstract artwork, Gross offers viewers a more playful, cheerful way of seeing the world. Beyond this, her seemingly swift licks of paint add depth, texture and the feeling of movement to her work. “I am trying to emulate an immersive reality for viewers and induce the sensation of actually being there just by looking” Gross explains. Indeed, her added layers of paint enhance the natural landscape, making the real seem ever more beautiful.