Maddison Kitching

Maddison Kitching is an emerging artist based in Melbourne (Naarm) whose work investigates human relationships with the natural world. Kitching unpacks everyday symbols representing animals and plants seen in architecture, pop culture, science and literature using painting, collage and sculpture. By investigating these relationships and symbols, Kitching seeks to understand how human culture has been shaped throughout history by the natural world. His recent projects have reflected on: the legacy of species, modification of the axolotl, the role of animal symbols in shaping the national psyche in Australia, and the use of live animals in political diplomacy. Kitching has recently completed residencies at Casa Lu, Mexico City, Testing Grounds, Melbourne (Naarm) and Cowwarr Art Space, Victoria. He has exhibited his work in Mexico, Japan and Australia.

Artwork Details: Slithers and A place that we both know, are part of a series of paintings developed while Kitching was living in Mexico City. Both paintings reference the axolotl, a mystical yet real creature from Mexico. Altered through scientific exploration and genetic modification, axolotls today are radically different from their predecessors. The spherical shapes within the paintings reference the eyes of the axolotl which have been physically changed through scientific intervention. The paintings imagine this liminal space where, through the change to the axolotl’s eyes, they experience a skewing of their vision and a metaphorical shift in perspective.