Interview by Liv Williams
Photography by Dee Shepherd

If you haven’t yet come across the work of Madeleine Collopy, prepare to fall a little bit in love. She creates large-scale, gestural paintings that are physical, intuitive and unmistakably alive: think sweeping marks, rich colour, and the kind of energy that makes you want to stand very close, then step back and just stare.

Before she was a painter, Mads was a dancer, one who performed professionally in New York, no less. She swapped the stage for the studio and now creates her work from a Fleurieu vineyard surrounded by horses, sheep, big skies and two very curious small children. We caught up with her to talk chaos, creativity and why constraints might actually be a good thing.

You came to painting via a pretty unconventional path, a dance degree, performing in New York, and then somehow ending up with a paintbrush in hand. Take us back to the beginning. When did painting first enter your world, and when did you know it was more than just a side interest?

It is hard to pinpoint a specific time or moment, but from when I can remember art, whether it be drawing or painting, creating was always a part of my life. Dance was a big part of that and it became the main focus of my younger life. I always enjoyed doing it, and the freedom of movement and expression through the physical body was something I loved. Years of dancing led me into studying dance at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts, where I had an incredible journey through my studies and performing.

When I stepped away from dance due to injuries, I found myself missing that physical, instinctive way of making something, and painting became a kind of continuation of that. I went back to university in 2014 and studied Visual Arts in Adelaide, and whilst I enjoyed all subjects, I found I connected to drawing and painting the most, especially working abstractly.

When I graduated, I was lucky enough to win a painting scholarship as well as begin working with some galleries in Adelaide and interstate. It became apparent pretty quickly this is what I wanted to keep doing. The support that I received cemented for me what I kind of already knew, that my path was painting.

“There’s a kind of tenderness, relentlessness and exhaustion that comes with raising children, and I think that has seeped into the work in subtle ways.”

You’re raising two little ones and running a serious art practice. What does a typical creative day look like for you right now?

Chaos. Haha no, but it’s definitely a juggle. My studio days are often built around family life, including school drop-offs, pickups, kids’ illnesses and all the usual chaos that goes with having young kids. Then there’s the less visible side of the practice, like admin, accounting and delivery logistics, which I’m often squeezing into small pockets of time.

When I’m in the studio though, I try to work quite instinctively and quickly. I do find it difficult sometimes to get into creative mode and feel the pressure to get it done in a certain time frame, but I’ve found a quick meditation helps at the start of the session, along with just playing around with the paints until I feel ready to commit to making the work. It’s like a warm-up. Often getting started is the hardest part, but you just have to keep making the work.

I treat it like any other job; you have to go and you have to commit in order to get the work done. In a way, the constraints are sometimes helpful, because they keep the work very immediate and physical. I tend to move between multiple canvases at once, responding to what’s happening on each surface. I dream of days when I will have more time in the studio again, but for now my focus is being a mum to my little children and doing what I can in those hours I get. I know this time is fleeting and I’ll have more time soon enough.

Has motherhood changed your work? Has it changed you as an artist?

Absolutely. It would be impossible not to have changed every aspect of my life, even the way I make and feel about art. Motherhood has shifted how I think about time, memory and the body. There’s a kind of tenderness, relentlessness and exhaustion that comes with raising children, and I think that has seeped into the work in subtle ways.

It’s made me more aware of how different women’s lived experiences can be from men’s, particularly in relation to the body, what it carries, what it endures and what it gives. Those experiences aren’t always visible or historically centred in art, but they hold so much depth. I find myself drawn to work by female artists who explore those spaces with honesty and complexity.

Whether you’re a mother or not, there’s a richness and specificity to women’s perspectives that feels increasingly important to acknowledge, and I think that’s something that continues to appear in my work.

Your studio is set on a vineyard on the Fleurieu; horses, sheep, wide open space. What does that environment bring to your practice that a city studio couldn’t?

I’ve always worked in the studio alone, so for that reason I feel quite at home out here. The sense of space I have though is probably the biggest thing, and I feel very spoiled. Being surrounded by open land and big skies creates a kind of quiet that’s harder to find in a city.

My favourite thing to do is get my cup of coffee, open up the big double doors and take a seat to watch the light bounce around the studio, and then turn and watch the landscape. It’s pretty special.

The Fleurieu is having a real moment as a place where creative people are putting down roots. What drew you there, and does the landscape find its way into your work at all?

My partner, Andy, is from Sydney and when we first started dating many years ago, I brought him down to one of my favourite spots on the Fleurieu. He couldn’t believe a beautiful spot could be so close to town yet feel so quiet and relaxed.

We were living in the Western suburbs and would visit as much as we could, often staying in friends’ holiday homes. When we were ready to buy a house, we knew we wanted to be by the beach and something kept drawing us back to the Fleurieu. We found a tiny little shack at the beach in Aldinga one Sunday afternoon and before we knew it, it was ours. It felt like a place where we could slow down and create space for both family life and making work.

Despite being here for four years, we are mind-blown every day by the beauty of the landscape. It changes constantly and we love just hanging out watching the ocean and the skies with our children every day. We also love the casual lifestyle the Fleurieu lends itself to. We’ve made some amazing friends in the welcoming community here and have also made some beautiful connections with other makers and creative people. The coffee, food and wine selections at our doorstep also make it a very easy place to live.

The quick stuff

Favourite local spot with the kids?
Kick Back Brewery or Alpha Box and Dice. Both have the best grassy areas for the kids to play while we kick our shoes off and enjoy some food and drinks.

Best thing about raising children on the Fleurieu?
The beaches and nature, the laid-back atmosphere and the sense of community.

Coffee order?
Small flat white, extra shot.

Last thing that inspired you?
My daughter’s awesome drawings.

“Not all paths are linear, sometimes you need to take a longer and more difficult route to get where you’re happiest.”

Your work hangs in some seriously impressive private collections. Does it ever blow your mind a little, thinking about where your paintings have ended up living?

It really does. Painting can be such a solitary process, so when a work eventually leaves the studio and goes into a gallery or someone’s home, it’s quite surreal. It’s no longer mine.

I love the idea that these paintings go on to have lives in other people’s homes, becoming part of their everyday spaces. I’ve been lucky enough to have met some really amazing clients who connect with the work, and it makes me so happy to see them enjoy the pieces as much as I do.

It’s almost as if the art takes its final form when it finds its home, like the final piece of the puzzle.

What do you want people to feel when they stand in front of one of your pieces?

I don’t necessarily want people to arrive at a specific meaning, you can think or feel whatever you like, that’s the beauty of art. More than anything though, I hope the work invites someone in to explore their own curiosity.

There’s a real physicality in making the work, and it is great if someone connects to that, whether it draws them in because of the scale, or if they dissect tiny moments of the piece, or if they connect to the energy and colour of the work.

Do the kids ever sneak into the studio? And have they started leaving their own mark on the canvas?

They definitely love coming in there and they are very curious about everything, including the paint, the thousands of brushes and the big canvases. I would love to have them there more, but I’m often there during school and childcare hours.

My eldest is very creative and very into drawing and painting, so I really love seeing her in there making her own works. She’s very proud when she’s finished something. Kids are awesome at painting, it’s so fun and inspiring to watch them paint or draw with complete freedom and total creativity. They’re the best artists.

Your kids are growing up watching their mum make art every day. What do you hope that gives them, even if they never pick up a paintbrush themselves?

I think the biggest thing is just seeing that it’s possible to build a life around something you enjoy doing and you care about. It also shows that not all paths are linear, and sometimes you need to take a longer and more difficult route to get where you’re happiest.

Even if they never make art themselves, I hope it shows them the value of hard work, creativity, curiosity and committing to something that feels meaningful.

What’s coming up for you? Any exhibitions on the horizon we should know about?

I’m currently in the studio working on the next body of work for the coming year. I have a group show coming up in May curated by Lili Harrison that I’m very excited about, plus another couple of group shows towards the end of the year.

I will also be doing a solo show at E-S-T in the CBD around October that I think will be really beautiful. I’m also looking forward to more experimenting over the coming year, so I hope to have some time to work towards a slightly different and experimental body of work after prepping for exhibitions. So keep an eye out.

Find out more
madeleinecollopy.com.au
@madscollopy

Follow KIDDO on Instagram and Facebook, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter