Madeleine Wall

Story and photo by Taizo Nakayama

LACES senior Madeleine Wall chose “Nostalgia” as the theme for her AP Studio Art portfolio this year. Her subjects range from family histories to grandiose fictional gatherings. The first piece for her portfolio is a painting depicting her and her brother at a Minnesota lake that’s an annual travel destination.

“My investigation for AP isn’t just nostalgia, but it has more of an emphasis on the happiness and the joy of being young,” she said. “I feel like the sparkles were a good way to portray the positive.”

Animated films from the Japanese Studio Ghibli were among Wall’s sources of inspiration for beginning art during the COVID-19 quarantine.

“I got screenshots of different scenes throughout the different movies and I would try to recreate them,” she said. “The visual aspect definitely caught my eye. I’ve watched the movies since I was a kid so they had a nostalgic feeling.”

“The Ocean Waves,” she says when asked her favorite animated installment from the studio. “And now

I’m noticing the nostalgia trend – the whole movie in itself is just reminiscing. Which is weird because I’m still in my youth, so I don’t know why I feel so nostalgic. That has to be a phenomenon, right?”

When beginning a fresh painting, Wall first considers the feeling she wants to portray in the piece.

“It’s ironic that it’s the part I struggle the most with,” she said. “I capture the feeling and then I have a little sketchbook that I make lots of little thumbnails in. I play around with the different subjects, different points of view. And then I’ll take it to the canvas.”

“I went for muted colors to capture the fogginess of memory. I definitely wanted to capture the lake because that holds significance to me, rather than just the trees in the background. I really liked the idea of having these small little sparkles of the sun reflecting on the water.”

Painting by Madeleine Wall.

Wall’s describes her workflow as sporadic. “I get bursts of inspiration,” said Wall. “‘I gotta put paint on the canvas right now.’ Which is probably not a good thing, because it means I have to spend a lot more time going back and redefining areas. Or if I change my mind, it doesn’t look as good whereas I could have just spent like five minutes making a thumbnail sketch and figuring it out.”

With more time spent in front of the canvas, Wall admitted that she occasionally experiences artis- tic burnout. However, she’s developed coping strategies over the years to counteract its effects.

“Letting myself have time off and away from art really helps,” she said. “If you have deadlines and cut-offs, you have to force yourself into that artistic state, and you might suffer from a decreased quality of your work. When inspiration hits, it hits, and you can’t really force it.”

Wall said she gets more inspiration at night.

“I’m a super night owl,” she said. “Something about having alone time when everyone else is asleep really gets my creative mindset in gear.”

She also plays piano and crochets in her free time. She finds that her approach to other hobbies shares similarities with those of her artistic ventures.

“The main thing that transfers over is the ability to be patient and trust the process,” she said. “One of my favorite things to remind myself is that progress doesn’t come consistently – it comes in steps, almost.”

“I like to use golden light. Something about that really hits – I feel very nostalgic with fuzzy warm sunlight. I was trying to capture the ambiance of the warm, happy Christmas party.”

Painting by Madeleine Wall.

Wall emphasized the importance of patience in artistic progression.

“I’ll hit a time where I feel like I’m improving with every painting I’m doing or every song I’m practicing on the piano, and then I’d hit a plateau and not improve at all. I just tell myself to wait it out and keep practicing.”

Wall also visits art museums such as the Getty to draw inspiration and encouragement.

“One thing about being in a museum in front of it is the sense of reality hits you,” she said. “This is a real thing. Someone just like me did that. It’s a big inspiration.”

Although Wall wished to pursue art professionally, financial prospects were a primary concern.

“I’ve only applied to one art college because I really had to have some inner battles,” she said. “As a professional artist, it’s very rare to have a stable income. So the uncertainty of it is kind of scary.”

Wall remains eager about her future in the visual arts.

“I’m mainly excited to see where I’ll end up. And maybe I’ll end up somewhere where it really inspires me. But just gaining new experiences and meeting new people, I think, can help my art tremendously.” +