Chris Madans works in the tradition of found-object assemblage.  Her poetic works explore themes of relationships, family, love, loss, denial, longing, and redemption.  Her work is infused with psychological drama, self-reflection and personal narrative, yet she always speaks eloquently to the emotions and struggles we all experience. The fantastic and whimsical little worlds Madans creates feel comfortingly familiar to the viewer, but as you dig deeper into her tableaus you likely will detect an underlying menace, that something is amiss, that maybe her little worlds somehow mirror our own private, hidden lives.

“I am a collector. I collect things, bits and pieces, small objects from my immediate environment, history and the collective history of strangers. I look for old, used, cast off articles. All of these fragments have had previous identities and uses, the patina of human hands and time. I sort through my collections, select and recombine these found objects into collage/assemblage compositions. The finished pieces engage with the act of memory and the exploration of inner and outer worlds. The objects are reinvented as symbols, icons and characters. Housed in frames, boxes, and display cabinets, these compositions are united by spirit, theme and purpose.”

Chris Madans is a graduate of UCLA (B.A.) and the University of Texas, Austin (M.A.). She has taught at various colleges and universities in Southern California since 1973, and has exhibited her work widely.

For further information, please contact:  Jeff Gambill, Director (310) 829-0345.