We were lucky to catch up with Maddie Aunger recently and have shared our conversation below.

Maddie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I think a part of me always knew that I wanted to be a creative in some capacity. Both of my parents had artistic hobbies throughout my childhood and encouraged my creativity from a young age. My answer to the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” was always either “artist” or “art teacher”. In high school I became confident that I wanted to be on a creative path, the specifics of what that meant to me have just evolved.

Maddie, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a painter and educator living in St. Louis, Missouri. I received a Bachelor of Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Science in Art Education, and minor in Art History from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2017/2018. In 2022 I received my Master of Fine Arts from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

My paintings walk the line between expressing sensation and capturing the reality of the everyday. Each piece begins with excitement about a specific formal quality, a shape of light, a hint of color, a repetition of form, or a composition of layered spaces. They are quiet, crisp, orderly, and controlled representations of places around my home executed at an intimate scale in acrylic on panel.

Light and color are constantly shifting around us and act as a reminder of the present moment, if we pause to observe it. Light that briefly touches a spot, shadows that stretch and disappear within minutes, and surprises of color catch my attention and my vision narrows.

I idealize the scene through a distillation of form, removal of imperfections, and heightening of contrast. These compositional and design changes extend the brevity of the moment and hold the viewer in the space before you snap back into seeing every detail. My work encourages the viewer to slow down and recognize that these moments can be found within their world.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

A lesson that is engrained into us all is that our value is linked to our productivity and that idleness is to be frowned upon. This is a frustrating product of the system we live in, and it is a privilege to be able to step away from it when we can. As I entered graduate school, I knew I needed to find a rhythm that would be sustainable for me. A friend in the program told me, “Everything you do is part of your studio practice,” and I took that to heart. How we spend our time outside the studio fuels our time in it. Taking care of yourself and honoring your boundaries nurtures a healthier relationship with the work.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is sharing my work with others. My paintings focus on moments that I observed alone. Being able to pass that experience along is exciting. The scenes I capture can be found everywhere, so I love when people tell me they saw a moment that looked like something I would paint. Having an impact on how others interact with the world around them is gratifying.

Contact Info:

• Website: maddieaunger.com
• Instagram: @maddie.aunger