Bio
Madelyn Stafford is an interdisciplinary artist, painter, and mixed media artist based in Fairfax, Virginia. Her work explores themes of value, identity, and perception, focusing on the tension between internal experience and external interpretation.
Initially trained in oil painting, Stafford now primarily works in acrylic, often incorporating self-portraiture to investigate perception, control, and emotional contradiction. Her process begins with emotion, translating internal states into visual form through digitally planned compositions, which are then built through layered painting. Works are revisited multiple times, reflecting a commitment to precision, repetition, and refinement. This balance between control and emotional intensity mirrors the core tensions within her practice.
She holds both a BFA and an MA in Visual Arts Administration from New York University, where she developed her artistic and curatorial perspective. Her background in graphic design informs her attention to composition and visual hierarchy, while ongoing nude figure studies continue to shape her engagement with the human form.
Stafford has exhibited in Come Closer at Commons Gallery in New York, NY (2021) and Stuff on Walls at Flint Hill High School in Oakton, VA (2017). Her work is held in private collections in Virginia, Maryland, New York, and Taiwan. She is currently developing new bodies of work, including an evolving series of self-portraits, and building toward future exhibitions.
Artist Statement
My work explores the gap between how we see ourselves and how we are seen. I focus on the tension between internal identity and external judgment—how quickly people are misunderstood, labeled, or reduced, and how hard it is to maintain a sense of self. Much of my work stems from moments when I felt misread or defined by others in ways that didn’t reflect who I was—an experience that can feel isolating and destabilizing.
Through this, I question how we assign value—to ourselves and to others, especially through the body. I focus on moments when emotional and social systems conflict. People can be dismissed or dehumanized. The female body is essential but often undervalued. Empathy is commonly overridden by assumption. My work asks what it would mean to see each other fully and to resist reducing each other to a single narrative.
I make this work as both a release and a discipline. It comes from moments when I felt misunderstood, when relationships fractured, and when I had to hold everything together on the outside while unraveling on the inside. The split between what is felt and what is shown is something I return to repeatedly. Painting is where I allow those contradictions to exist without resolving them.
My process mirrors this balance, mixing control and emotion. I strive for precision and refinement: sharp lines, smooth surfaces, a finished look sometimes difficult to distinguish as handmade or machine-made. That sense of control stands in stark contrast to the emotional weight of my subjects.
I use composition and hierarchy to reflect value—what is emphasized, diminished, or overlooked. A recurring avatar represents my internal state: two incomplete selves, each dependent on the other to become whole. Figures with hands suggest agency and control. Those without hands feel restricted or powerless. Color guides attention and intensifies emotional presence.
I want the viewer to confront their own assumptions about themselves and others. The work functions as both a mirror and a disruption. It pushes toward a more honest evaluation of belief, perception, and empathy.