Meet Madeleine Riande | Multidisciplinary Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Madeleine Riande and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Madeleine, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
My dad is an art collector, since I was a kid my house became a museum in my tiny eyes. I saw different stories around me. It was inevitable. When I was 8 years old my brother had an accident and was in a coma for a month. He hit his head. Since then I have become obsessed with the brain and I submerge my sadness in understanding trauma and society. How do we evolve? How do we transform? How do we rewire our brain after traumatic events?

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To be honest, art is the most challenging and personal path any individual could ever follow. You have to go deeper in yourself to create something with a purpose and a meaning. If it is not genuine it could never be understood. But then again… everything is misunderstood. I’ve been drawing since I was 13 years old. I did my BFA industrial design with a minor in sculpture and another one in accessory design at the Savannah College of arts and Design. I love materials and making objects that have a story. I have a strong infatuation with glass so I was part of many glass organizations and schools like Pilchuck School of Glass and others. I also did my MFA at Pratt Institute in FIne arts. All my work is based on how the brain works through trauma and how you can rewire your brain. My memory, trauma and my experience are the essence of my artistic work. I believe that, although memory is built from real events in the past, it is also strongly fed by imagination. Flashbacks, nightmares are diffused images from trauma. All memory is partly fiction. Through my artistic processes, I have managed to bring events that remained repressed and ignored to consciousness. My work acts as catharsis in me. I don’t think anything in life is easy but I think the hardest part in art is having a purpose. That shows in your work with time and commitment. Art is a challenge by itself. The process, the loneliness behind working with only yourself. I think I’ve overcome my challenges by not giving up and following what’s in me. “If you don’t believe in yourself, who the F(*& will?” As a proud hispanic/latino woman from Panama, i am proud to say I can represent my country. I am proud to share my knowledge to people that do not have the opportunity that I did. I come from a country (Panama) that faces severe challenges in its education system. It lacks adequate resources and infrastructure. Panama experiences a low level of education attainment and high rates of poverty. Do to this I believe that sharing knowledge is a dutty. Success to me is being able to help grow a community and infrastructure of understanding and opportunity.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Brooklyn,NY, so this will follow my city. My favorite museum is The New Museum in Bowery. I recommend The MOMA, the MAD Museum and the Museo del Barrio (Latin American Art). Besides that I do recommend gallery Hopping In Chelsea (Hauser and Wirth, Gagosian Gallery, Pace Gallery, James Cohan etc) and go see gallery openings in the Lower East Side (full of emerging artists). I use this app called See Saw where they show all the openings happening in the city. When it comes to drinks in Manhattan, my classics: Via Carota(Italian), Lucien (French), Gem, Apotheke in Chinatown; as for Brooklyn, go have oysters at Mesion Premier and the best Dirty Martini, Eavesdrop, Misi and go dancing at Night Moves (The owner is James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem). I would also recommend Public Record in Gowanus for live music and dancing. 

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My dad Noel Riande.

Website: http://www.madeleineriande.com

Instagram: @funkadelik_mad

Other: https://vimeo.com/user163114824