Vanessa Madrid

Vanessa Madrid who was taught by her grandfather to look for the spark of the sacred that is present in all living things, natural places and forces says, “I still look for this spark, the joyful presence in the world around me.” Madrid’s artwork is an attempt to visualize energetic resonance; the spark within people, places, objects, elemental forces of wind and tide, the animal and undersea world, the cosmos and the microscopic realm. She uses the language of abstraction and minimalism to visualize the flow of energy through and between people, places and the natural world. Madrid distills shapes down to an elemental state – part geometric, part biomorphic – until they reference both the macroscopic and microscopic worlds. The spaces between shapes are equally important to her, as those negative spaces become highly charged places of exchange, refuge, and chambers for the sacred spark.