Madelin Coit
Madelin Coit is an American multi-disciplinary artist whose career began in the 1970s. In her work, Coit has produced numerous series across media, including sprayed-oil paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, installation, video projection, writing, performance, steel, neon, and shadow. Her work is in the collections of the State of New Mexico, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Skirball Cultural Center in Los Angeles, and the Museum of Fine Arts in Santa Fe.
Early life and education
Coit graduated from the University of Connecticut in 1968 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. In 1971, she moved from Boston, Massachusetts to California to begin graduate coursework at CalArts Design School and to pursue her creative work.Artwork
Coit works simultaneously in different media: drawing with graphite, engineered paper, reworked found objects, shadows, steel, neon, installation, performance and video. She explores physical and emotional perception, and the way understanding or feelings appear to be and then change. Through the different media she uses, there is continuity in aesthetic and intention.Coit has a history of working with language and signage, with many of her works taking the form of poetic messages.
Two recurring themes are often in her works – One is the mystery of interface, the edge or the space that separates one thing or place from another, defining both sides. The other concept is that of pentimento, a painting term about transparency, layering, and visual seepage.
The resulting work is created through a process layered, aggregated, and deconstructed materials to form a whole, which can then be erased, built upon, torn down, and reconstructed.