Maddie Wilmink is a Toronto-based emerging artist whose practice reintroduces elements of the natural world into contemporary urban space through surrealist sculptures and domestic objects. Taking inspiration from her childhood spent switching between the American southwest and Vancouver Canada, Maddie reflects on humanity through artistic interventions of landscape and organic systems.
ABOUT M WILMINK
artist statement
Through our interspecies coexistence insects reveal where we are vulnerable, they breach barriers and cross thresholds into intimate space. I investigate how human interactions with insects can help us understand our relationship with nature. My work aims to re-contextualize instances of conflict and friction, conveying the importance of insects within our ecosystem and exploring how insects not only sustain our survival but shape our identity.
Primarily working in metal casting has allowed me to create new forms of semi-permanence and recycle obsolete artifacts of human culture into work that criticizes humanity's obsession with holding dominion over the natural world; instead centering post-humanist concerns of ethical cohabitation.
My practice is an intuitively organic compilation of lived experiences from human and nonhuman life. Through my focus in ethno-entomology I examine Humanity's long-standing relationship with a part of our natural world that is both vital to our survival as a species, and a threat to our comfort and health. I use art as a method of restoring connections with land and ecology by reinserting nature into personal space.
My sculptures offer commentary on contemporary social structures through bio-surrealist intervention; expressing the functional morphology of insects in metal, merging the language of organic and industrial. I work to connect bugs to humans on an individual level, forging an intimacy in behavioral connections and a shared drive for survival.
portfolio
selected projects from recent bodies of work
Artistic Offerings
Sculpture
Maddie Wilmink is a multimedia artist who works with ceramics, metals, and organic materials, she is proficient in both hand sculpting methods and digitally rendered designs.
Painting and Illustration
Maddie has received training in traditional in drawing and painting through Scottsdale Artist Academy and in Scientific Illustration courses completed at the Chicago Field Museum. Her two dimensional work merges technical precision with biomorphic stylization.
Wearables and Jewelry
Custom fit wearable harnesses, armor, and jewelry can be made upon request in a variety of semi precious materials including bronze, silver and leather.
Exhibitions
Please reach out through the link bellow if you would like to be added to an email list providing updates on upcoming exhibitions featuring Maddie Wilmink’s work.