More about Me.

My name is Madeline O'Donoghue and I am a Fine Arts graduate, with a 1st Class Honours Degree from Massey University, Wellington. I majored in painting but I am also interested in a range of different media including photography and film.

Tragedy is the downfall of glamour, it is this concept on which my work functions. I am currently exploring the glamourisation of death in popular culture (with a strong focus on film and fashion contexts) through highly saturated paintings that depict myself as a posed dead victim or as a victim-like female. The paintings are based on photographs which were taken at real murder sites in New Zealand. The works whilst confronting glamour also talk to the idea that painting can be used as a way of re-directing violence. A few early works from the Painted Murder series can be seen on the PORTEFEUILLE blog under the tab 'My work: Painted Murder.2010.'.

I have also studied Media Studies and Art History at Victoria University, Wellington. I wanted to gain a broader knowledge of advertisements, as they often serve as a starting base for my paintings but also to enable myself to become familiar with a range of different media texts; music video, websites, television and print media.

In 2008 I joined Massey University on a study tour to New York. This tour included going to the major Galleries and Museums and seeing art works (Warhol, Katz, Oldenberg, Damien Hirst, Kruger, Sherman, Pollock, Rothko, Rauschenberg etc) I had previously studied 'in the flesh'. These works and the city itself inevitably re-ignited my love of painting,encouraging me to continue pursuing the arts as a means to live. Whilst consuming the the art in New York, I also took in the city as a kind of living advertisement for culture. Times Square was a highlight, as was Macy's, Century 21 and Tiffany.Co which were temples of 'saturated sell.' Out of all the consumables New York offered, the city itself stood out as the most 'magical' commodity available to purchase.

In 2010 I moved from Wellington to Auckland to seek out a job within the creative industry. I was offered a role at the Post- Production/ Visual Effects studio Oktobor (www.oktobor.com) where I worked for the following 6 months. Oktobor exposed me to a range of different creative avenues, but it was the art of colour-grading which interested me the most. As Oktobor moved their colour-grading suite offshore, I decided to make the move to Aalto Colour to work as a Colour & Showroom Consultant/ Production Assistant.

I am an extremely visual, creative, critical thinker and a generator of ideas. I plan to gain experience working in the New Zealand creative industry whilst continuing to develop my interest in fine arts, retail, marketing, business, interiors and spatial design.

You are able to contact me via email or phone by clicking on the Contact Me tab.