Bundanon

Lives / works: Sydney, Gadigal Land

Madeline Preston’s work includes oil paintings, installation, and three-dimensional pieces, her choice of material and medium is informed by the content. Her recent work has focused on the past and how we choose to remember and how we forget. Recent exhibitions include Intolerable Leisure and Bad Mannerism curated by Chelsea Lehmann at Galerie Pom Pom, Glazed and Confused curated by Lynda Draper at Hazelhurst Regional Gallery, and Gertrude Contemporary’s annual Octopus series Octopus13: On this day alone curated by Glenn Barkley.

In 2016 Preston was a finalist in the Sulman prize at the Art Gallery of NSW, and in 2017 won the highly commended prize in the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize. In 2017 she undertook a residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, followed in 2018 with a residency – selected from applicants worldwide – at the Slade/Camden Arts Centre London Summer Intensive. In 2019 Preston undertook a sculpture full fellowship residency at the Vermont Studio Centre in the US. In 2020 and 2021 she exhibited with Blackartprojects in Melbourne and at the Spring1883 and Sydney Contemporary. She has been awarded 2 residencies in 2022, one at Bundanon and one with a Fellowship at Ragdale Illinois in the United States.

In residence at Bundanon

Preston will be using her residency at Bundanon to engage with the landscape. The unique site along with its history are compelling to Preston. She has undertaken several residencies in the last few years and found that the experience always leaves her with material to work on and new experiences to expand her practice.

Image: Studio Portrait, 2011. Photo: Joy Lai Lyrebird Photography