Loren Madsen

Born and lived in Oakland CA, graduated high school in Seattle. College in Portland, OR, and UCLA where I got an MA in 1970 (majors in art, art history, and tanning). Too many years in LA. Bought our property in Mendocino County in 1970. Discovering that the hippie life was too much work. moved to NYC, 1977-2005. Living in Mendocino County since.

My first solo exhibition, in 1973, consisted of precariously balanced bricks anchored by gravity and friction. An earthquake destroyed the show before it opened. Despite this divine critique, I continued with these early sculptures, which mutated into large site-specific installations that currently exist only in photographs.

I found that theater was not enough, I wanted narrative. In 1991 I made a large installation titled “Missing Matter” that summarized what I knew and felt about issues cosmological. By 1994 I was using the Statistical Abstract of the U.S. and other sources to turn data into sculpture and prints. These are broadly historical if the viewer chooses to engage with the information, and abstract if the viewer does not. The subjects of my interest are purely personal (and, OK, political. See “ephemera”).

I still quixotically transform understanding into art, now accompanied by grand views and wonderful wine. I also occasionally just create “sculptures” for the simple joy of making.