Madeline M. LeBlanc

Lorraine and Vera, 2021

Wax Crayons on Sheet

74 x 45 inches

In dedication to my Grandma and Great-Grandma, Lorraine and Vera.

The bed is a place of human dignity: a place where we are born, a place of procreation, a place to rest, to dream, and to die. The bed and the bedding that houses it is symbolic of our inner world. Lorraine and Vera, is a piece within my body, The Mother. In “The Mother” I take used-bed sheets as my canvas, these sheets hold an unseen time and narrative of the inner worlds of those who have used them. Because the sheet is linked to the most intimate moments of our lives there is a stigma around used bed sheets as being permeated with unfamiliar dirt and our past personal narratives. By raising the sheet up onto the wall as art I seek to disrupt sophistication regarding preconceived notions of what constitutes art. The use of hanging a sheet on the wall is an allusion to the repurposing of sheets to cover windows in ghettos. Having experienced homelessness using sheets as canvas is reminiscent of a time when I sought creativity with the tools I had: dollar store paints, pencil crayons, and sheets of paper. The Mother is about creating in a place where there are limited means to create. Finding ways to create when the resources and space allow otherwise. I use pencil crayons and wax crayons on the sheet to create large scale works despite financial constraints.These works were produced by exploring various automatistic processes: I would have no ultimate image in my mind but as I was drawing shapes would emerge and it was a surprise. Standing back away from the work during creation I’d see my lines connect into birds, fairies, flowers, and The Mother. These unexpected images are woven with life. Elevating these sheets, these domestic objects, into depictions of transformation.