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Meditative explorations of water light and ever changing fluid surfaces work as inspiration. My process is drawn from memory, Emotionally driven- absorbing power, energy and the beauty of my subject... Later to be expressed in my studio.
Creating intuitively is liberating, in-turn the viewer is free to have their own vision, interpretation gleaned from experience, nostalgia or see their world in a different way...


- E l e n a M a d d e n

 

 

 

 

 

 

Born:

Columbia, SC

Education:

 BFA Savannah college of Art and Design, Savannah, GA

Awards:

 Best of Show Telfair Museum of Art, Juried Exhibition Savannah, GA

 Frances Larkin McCommon Scholarship

 Gold Key Art Award, Presented by Scholastic Art Awards

 Governor's School for the Arts

 

EXHIBITIONS     

  • Brickworks Gallery Atlanta, GA

  • The UMSTEAD gallery Hall Cary, NC

  • Location Galley Savannah, GA 

  • Chasen Galleries Richmond

  • 2Cargarage Contemporary art gallery Savannah

  • Firehouse Gallery Darmariscotta, Maine

  • Reign Gallery Newport, RI

  •  Savannah Gallery Atlanta

  • Center of the Earth gallery Charlotte

  • RED Gallery Savannah

  •  I. Pickney Simons Gallery, Beaufort, SC

  •  Golden Pacific Arts, San Diego

  • Fogle Fine Art, Jacksonville

  •  Tyndall Galleries, Chapel Hill

  • Arnold Gallery, Aiken, SC

  •  Juried Alumni Ex Libris Gallery, Savannah

  • City Art Gallery, Columbia, SC

  •  Cameo Art Gallery, Columbia, SC

  •  Elkenahs’s Gallery, Jackson, TN

  • Midtown Gallery, Nashville

 

COLLECTIONS

  • Cheeca lodge and Spa Islamorada, FL

  • Sheraton Bay Point, FL

  • The UMSTEAD hotel and spa Cary, NC

  • The Tower at Williams Square, Houston, TX

  • The Westin Abu Dhabi 

  • SCRUB Island Resort British Virgin Islands

  • Westin Resort Savannah

  • Marina Del Ray Ritz Carlton

  • SAS Institute Cary, NC

  • The Columbia Convention Center

  • JW Marriott Minneapolis, MN

  • JW Marriott Newport Beach, CA

  • Chicago Four Seasons

  • Memorial Medical Center, Savannah, GA

  • Duke University Durham, NC

  • The Tennessee Valley Authority

  • Strategic Resources, Columbia, SC

  • Allegra, Columbia, SC

  • KMC Telecom, Columbia, SC

  • Capital Associates, Cary, NC

  • ALLTEL Stadium Jacksonville,FL.

  • Jacksonville Port, Jacksonville, FL.

  • Liberty Property Trust, Horsham, PA

 

BIO:

Elena Madden was born in Columbia South Carolina. Her parents were both inspirations to her, graduates of VCU Richmond, VA her Mother a fine artist and her Father a graphic designer. Growing up Madden‘s home was alive with creativity, the influential energy instilled a passion to become an artist. Elena became driven earning awards at a young age and as a Sophomore in high school she received the honor of attending The Governor’s School for the Arts at Furman University, this was a pivotal moment which solidified her path. Shortly after, receiving a scholarship to The Savannah College of Art and design and later received a BFA in Painting in 1993. 

Elena has always had an affinity for nature, spending Summers as a child in Pawleys Island, SC she was mesmerized by the light, energy and motion of the water. Many years later, she and her SCAD sweetheart husband moved to Lake Murray, SC where this muse was revisited, her then toddler daughter (whom she considers her best work) would toss stones in the lake as Madden made quick studies later to be created as large works- this was the birth of her motion series and this concept would later develop into the other ten series of this multifaceted subject. After 25 years of exploring reflection there’s no lack of inspiration as Elena is excited by what this ever evolving subject may bring and welcomes the next chapter.

Madden started her first gallery in Savannah Georgia in 2001, while maintaining gallery representation in the Northeast, and the West coast. Years later, she relocated her gallery to Beaufort, SC where she gleaned inspiration from the beautiful Lowcountry. In 2015 Elena moved her gallery to Islamorada FL where she currently creates, stirred by emanating light through tranquil waters, incorporating the moments and memories shared intimately with her subject. 

Elena’s process starts with a burnt sienna under painting on a cradled wood panel- the artist enjoys the slick surface of the wood which in the end is finished with a varnish glossy like the wet surface of the water. Conte’ crayon is sketched on the panel to create a map/blueprint for the bones of a piece. Many transparent layers are applied, often starting with metallics and the lightest pigment to create a glow, finishing with deepest hues- these pieces are painted intuitively from memory finding Madden‘s own rhythm.