Sight and vantage have been central to civilizations’ understandings of themselves. Cartographic methodologies, for instance, presumed a god-view, succeeded by the more secular bird’s eyes and aerial views. Super-powered logic circuits were thus mapped into human progress narratives: to see has been to survey—for the purposes of conquering, terraforming, or some other chaser of control that follows upon looking. As the elements were accounted for, first in pagan pentagrams then periodic tables, earth supposes the sky above it, encircling it.

In Madeleine Finley’s often sweepingly expansive canvases, the painting ground is always choreographed in tension with air. Tectonic plates and architectonic fantasies are raised in construction then dashed back into flat ruins. Collapses and their causalities are annotated in an expanded material vocabulary that buttresses the painter’s studio with troweled concrete and an urgent hot red-pink marker the color of adrenaline.

Finley works through issues of landscape and flatness in ways that pinball between the Mountain-and-Sea puddles of Frankenthaler and the foreshortened abstract distortions through which Wayne Thiebaud interpreted the California cityscape. Following an experimental contingent that has sought to treat painting as much as object as conventional image, Finley’s work shares DNA with such predecessors as Jack Whitten, Harmony Hammonds, and Jay DeFeo. Into the neo-geo-neo-constructivism of it all, Finley arrays poetic systems of shuddering, incidental marks—diaristic in their intimacy, imposing in their staunch pigmentation and staining potential.

To encounter these curious, earnest works would already stir longing to inquire after their maker. But then meeting Ms. Finley only further amplifies that conversational impulse. Finley is a consummate It Girl—a Total Package of brains, bravery, and multifaceted beauty. Pop culture connoisseur and deep-cuts painting history nerd, Finley is a welcome, lively addition to any setting. She’s bluntly clear spoken and approaches the art scene with warmth of heart, effervescence, and a willingness to get into real talk about the life and struggles of being a committed studio maker.

Finley is a graduate of SAIC’s prestigious MFA program in painting and drawing, and has recently relocated to Philadelphia. May this questionnaire not only amplify her presence among art world elites, but also attract the movers and shakers in Philly to seek her out.




What are your beauty secrets?

Can’t give too many away but: SPF, Tretinoin, lots of sleep ;). Nightly baths to feel calm and smell good before bed.



What’s the matter?

I’m recovering from a flu/cold .



What is your greatest extravagance?

Aside from the studio, definitely pampering and perfume.



What is your most treasured possession?

I have a ring from my paternal Grandmother Mary and lots of sentimental objects from my parents.



Do you keep a diary?

Not consistently, I journal about once a month but when I read it back it’s so melodramatic and cringey to read it in my own voice.



What or who is the greatest love of your life?

An ex, I was heartbroken from the breakup and haven’t been able to fully put my heart back together again.



When and where were you happiest?

I have lots of joyful snippets in my head from childhood, but in adulthood I’ve probably been happiest on my solo trip to Italy, I went for three months in 2016.



What was your first job?

At 15 I got hired at Gifford’s Ice Cream and Candy Co. in D.C. It was a local historical ice cream shop. I would get out of school at 5:15 (we got out late), and would work and eat ice cream until 8pm.



Which living person do you most admire?

I really admire all of my past Painting professors, Judith Geichman and Dana DeGiulio. I just think they’re so cool and I strive to be that cool lol.


Madeleine Finley + Judith Geichman


If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A popstar, I would want to know what it’s like to live that life.



What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Righteousness.


Madeleine Finley, Reflecting Pool, 2018
Acrylic, concrete, and graphite on canvas, 80h x 50w in.



Do you cook? If no, how do you feed yourself? If yes, do you have a signature recipe?

I do cook! I cook for myself everyday. I love stuffed artichokes and some sort of ceviche.



What did you have for breakfast?

I usually eat some sort of berry coconut milk yogurt with lots of chia and hemp seeds with fruit on top.



How do you usually sleep?

On my side with some forest noises playing.



What questions are you asking yourself?

Are my paintings fast or slow?
What do I want my next ten years to look like?
I would love to fall in love with a studio and stay there for a while, hopefully also find a long term partner in the meantime.





Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Lots of filler words: “like” “you know”, it’s a hard habit to break.



Which talent would you most like to have?

Singing!! Singing 100%.



What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Getting my MFA and maintaining long standing relationships to my girlfriends.


Madeleine Finley, Barreiro iiii, 2022
Concrete, acrylic, and red marker on canvas, with concrete frame from mold, 32h x 24w in.



Describe your work space. What qualities do you need in your environment to do what you do?

It’s always a push and pull. In the studio, if I can’t see the material, as in if it’s not out of a box or container in my line of vision, I’ll forget it’s there until I purge and somehow find it. But I also hate working in clutter. I have a lot of clear boxes, containers, and jars around so I can see what I have at all times. I work in little circuit stations for each of my steps, this wasn’t totally planned but it happened and it works.





Describe your dream date.

Okay my dream date would be the perfect third date. I feel like by then the initial awkward topics are out of the way, and you can be romantic and more vulnerable. Ideally, it would be at dusk (for the lighting) and maybe we would go to a comedy show and then a night cap and laugh and gaze at each other.



Where would you most like to live?

Rome.





Which living person do you most despise?

I try not to hold hate in my heart, as it sooo quickly consumes me, but honestly I can hold a grudge so there’s a few. And sleezy politicians.



What do you most value in your friends?

Their loyalty.



What do you most enjoy wearing?

Tight black leather.



Who are your favorite writers?

I enjoy authors writing from a femme perspective, I love a well written femme leading historical fictionesque novel.



Do you have a favorite film?

I could watch Bridget Jones's Diary over and over.



Is there an album or piece of music you listen to the most?

Right now it’s SZA’s album SOS.



What are you reading right now?

Just started “The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller.



Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Drew Barrymore.



Is there anything you regret not doing?

I wish I had believed in my voice and ideas more growing up, and still in adulthood I get self conscious to verbalize my thoughts.



Favorite drink?

An ice cold Campari spritz with a shot of gin on the side, cold wine, or an Olipop probiotic soda.



Favorite smell?

Vanilla or jasmine.





Favorite color?

Sage green or terracotta.



Favorite time of day?

Dusk.



Where do you dance?

On the dance floor or in the mirror.



Do you have anything going on or coming up you want to plug?
Where can people find you? Website address? Instagram handle?

Insta: @madeleinefinleyxoxo.

Recent exhibition at Adds Donna, Chicago, IL: Hearts, Concealed.