Madison Gutierez

“What is your favorite artwork?”

Curatorial Rationale

By presenting my entire body of work, I hope to express the complexity that is human creativity. My wish for the viewer is to gain a greater understanding and appreciation of fantasy and folklore across time and cultures. The concept of fantasy is the underlying theme throughout my entire body of work, along with the understanding that interpretations are going to vary from person to person, and my artwork is just one interpretation. Throughout all of my pieces, I have tried to maintain an element of realism in order to portray a sense of possibility when it comes to the stories presented.


In the back of my mind during this creation process, I have kept the importance of respect for how cultural practices and ideas are portrayed. My pieces only show the surface of many years of cultural stories and legends, however, it has been important to me to gain an understanding of how to respectfully portray the myths and fantastical ideas that come from around the world. The piece that I feel shows off the importance of this cultural understanding to me is the Cauldron. I wanted to incorporate real aspects of pagan witchcraft and spent a long time studying ways to properly showcase it. A common motif throughout my body of work is the idea of blending the familiar with the unknown in order to create a world in which the viewer can more easily understand. The theme of fantasy is present throughout my entire body of work. Along with that overarching theme, there are underlying themes of pushing the limits in what can be deemed acceptable by today’s standards despite being respectable in traditional art. My own experiences with researching different folklore influenced my love of fantasy creatures and fueled the drive to create more of these artworks. I have been impacted by today’s media along with the traditional ideas found in older works.


I have chosen to display my body of work in a way that flows together and guides the viewer through different themes within the overarching idea of fantasy. The way my work is displayed shows the pieces closer to the center reflecting their importance on my own life and creativity. Between the work and the viewer I intend to create a world in which you can follow and understand with a blend between what is already known and what is new or unseen. I believe that by following a pattern of mixing the familiar world with fantasy provides for a unique experience in which the viewer can suspend their disbelief, even for a moment. All of the artworks are related in abstract ways. None of them are meant to take place in the same world at the same time, yet the positioning and stylistic choices present within the artworks allow for an understanding that nothing is impossible and all of the ideas that could be present in one's mind are able to be correct at once.  My intention for the reaction of an audience is to reflect on what the viewer knows and look inside themself for a deeper, truer understanding. I believe that these artworks can be understood across many different cultures due to the widespread cultural origins that I drew inspiration from.


Madison’s Art Work

  • Snow on the Beach

    Acrylic paint on canvas board

    40 cm x 30 cm

    The intention of this artwork is to blend the absurd with the reality creating a scene that is unlikely to occur. The warm climate fauna coupled with the snow from cold weather cultivates the feeling of fantasy within the familiar. This artwork was inspired by a song of the same name, allowing for artistic interpretation to be drawn from an existing idea in the mainstream.

  • Ascension

    Colored Pencil and Watercolor on Watercolor Paper

    46.5 cm x 30 cm

    My intention with this piece is to have a female angel in a style that mimics traditional Renaissance painters. The angel is rising into what one could assume is the heavens or the sky and is at peace. I wanted the natural beauty of the angel to shine through without other barriers based on what she may be doing or wearing. The watercolor background is meant to present as both a traditional setting as well as movement within the streaks being used.

  • A Witch's Cauldron

    Mayco Glaze on fired clay

    13.34 cm x 8.26 cm x 6.9 cm

    This goal of this artwork was to combine the elements of traditional fantasy stories with their origins. I wanted to include themes of witchcraft within traditional folklore along with aspects of the general paganistic rituals that most of these stories stem from. All of the sigils that are engraved onto the cauldron are positive affirmations with a personal meaning of “I am strong”, “I am enough”, and “Have trust”.

  • Enchanted Forest

    Mixed Media; Watercolor paint, watercolor markers, colored pencils, acrylic paint

    18 cm. x 25 cm.

    My inspiration for this piece was a digital painting made by the artist Ferdinand Ladera because of his use of fantasy themes. I incorporated it with the setting and the inclusion of wisps, but I added my own spin of a wandering fairy searching through the forest. I imagine that she is searching for something related to love, destined by the wisps in the forest. The fairy may be feeling a sense of longing as she traverses through the forest.

  • Star Crossed Lovers

    Digital Art in Clip Studio Paint

    31.75 cm x 42.3 cm

    The piece surrounds a fairy and her lover while they are unable to become close to each other due to the sensitive nature of fairy wings and a mermaids’ inability to walk on land. The intention was to combine fantastical elements with the classic love story of two star crossed lovers who are unable to be together similar to classics such as Romeo and Juliet by Shakespeare to modern classics like The Fault in our Stars by John Green.

  • Pixel Pixie

    Digital using Clip Studio Art

    10 cm x 10 cm

    The intention for this artwork is to serve as a piece in the digital world. I designed the elvish pixie with the hopes to use the design one day for a video game design. The overall piece focuses on the natural colors of the forest to exemplify the most important of the elf. I implemented aspects of elvish design from traditional mythology as well as my own interpretation of it.

  • Phoenix Rising

    Acrylic Paint on Canvas

    18 cm. x 25 cm.

    This piece was a process that had changed meaning many times throughout. At first I had wanted a happy painting, displaying the rising of a new life. However as I worked on it, the less sense it made to keep the grass as a setting for the piece. I had known once I finished the sky that I wanted to include a phoenix as the main centerpoint of the piece representing rebirth and second chances as it rises from the ashes.

  • Overgrown Grotto

    Acrylic on Canvas Board

    20 cm x 12 cm

    My intention for this art piece was to create a mystical landscape in which the exact location is both recognizable and unknown to the viewer. I think I managed to capture my vision and create a balance of color and movement within the piece. The tree added in the middle looks to be glowing and allowed for a location for the eye to focus within the artwork.

  • Fantasy Flowers

    Cernit Translucent Polymer Clay, Acrylic Paint, String Lights, and staged on Burl Wood

    50 cm x 25 cm x 25 cm

    My biggest inspiration came from my medium which formed very nice flower petals which is what I then intended to create. In my piece, I wanted the flowers to look magical both due to the color of the petals and stem, but also the lights used as the stamen. I channeled the influences of impressionistic art into this sculpture representing the flowers yet not feeling realistic in an intentional way.