Caroline Madden is an assistant professor of art at Jacksonville University.
WHAT DO YOU DO?
“I teach glass blowing, sculpture classes, advise students and ensure they attend conferences and particularly national competitions so they understand where their abilities are.”
HOW MANY STUDENTS DO YOU TEACH?
“There are 12 in the studio arts at all different levels.”
IS GLASS A POPULAR SUBJECT?
“Glass work has grown exponentially. New glass museums have opened in Seattle and Pittsburgh. There is a huge interest in it.”
WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED MEDIUM?
“It depends on what I’m doing. Technically, glass is the most difficult. Little was written about it 20 years ago when I started. It was in the early stages of development as far as getting glasses that were compatible with each other.” Madden employs an array of materials in her creations, including wood, glass, steel and grass.
EDUCATION
She attended the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and Stourbridge College of Technology and Art in England. She finished her master’s degree in sculpture at the Massachusetts College of Art in Boston.
HOMETOWN
“I was born in England and raised in Dublin.”
DO YOU HAVE ANY RELATIVES IN THE STATES?
“My sister lives in New York.”
WHERE DOes she LIVE NOW?
Pottsburg Creek.
WHAT DREW YOU TO ART?
“It’s something one needs to do, like a void that needs to be filled. It’s part of who you are. Most of my work involves a lot of people because they’re large installations. I really enjoy working with other people. The glass objects I make myself but assemblage requires a lot of people. It’s reminiscent of being raised on a farm, which I was. We’d go from farm to farm to harvest the hay. It’s the same with these large installations, putting the pieces together. It helps you get to know people.”
HOW LARGE ARE YOUR PIECES?
“They average 12 feet in any one dimension. Someone would have to have a really big garden or a really big room [to collect her work]. Making smaller things is like baking a cake; it’s not as appealing.”
MADDENING
“As I’m getting older, lifting stuff is challenging. In resolving pieces, sometimes there’s something missing and you’re not quite sure what it is. It takes a lot of playing around with things to finally be satisfied. You have all the elements but sometimes it’s not quite right.”
WHAT SHOWS HAs she DONE LATELY?
Madden participated in two site-specific shows at Florida State University and will be part of JU’s faculty art show Thursday. She was featured in a show sponsored by Bausch & Lomb in Rochester last fall.
WHAT IS MEANT BY SITE-SPECIFIC?
Basically, a group will approach her to create something for a particular event or place. She is given much artistic liberty as to the end result.
WHAT SUBJECT DO YOU PORTRAY MOST?
“Initially, I drew Gothic arches and was very involved in architecture. Gothic symbols are my trademark. My new work is derived from my old work. With the glass forms, it’s important that they’re stable. Then I’ll use something natural or organic with the glass. Most of it wants to set the tone of a quiet place.”
WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY ORGANIC?
“I use rose petals, things that are transient, things that fade rapidly. I would like to use water in my work, but in galleries it’s difficult to contain. It would be like a sculpture of meditational gardens.”
WHAT EMOTIONs ARE YOU TRYING TO EVOKE?
“Quietness and reflection.”
what IS YOUR MAIN INFLUENCE?
“I was always involved with the writings of William Erwin Thompson, the anthropologist. He reveals things that we take as truths. When I’m working on something, I’m always reading something about how truths are redefined culturally.”
WHAT INSPIRES YOU?
“Landscapes. When I’m outside walking is when I get most of my ideas.”
WHERE ELSE HAVE YOU WORKED?
“I taught at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and at the Rochester Institute of Technology in New York. I was also a teaching assistant at Philchuck School of Glass in Seattle.”
HOBBIES?
“Swimming, traveling, reading books on anthropology. I like Thai food and romantic comedies.”
FAVORITE ESCAPE?
“I think the most beautiful place in Jacksonville is the Cummer gardens. I like to visit there or the ocean at night.”
— by Monica Chamness