This piece’s soft pink hue started as an accident (the calfskin found its way into a drum with trace amount of red dye, left over from a previous batch) and ultimately inspired the entire aesthetic of Glimpsing Mirrors, which aims to use parchment beyond its typical applications and become a reliable substrate for contemporary visual artists. Two layers of writing appear along the spine of the skin to highlight,  rather than hide, parchment’s anatomical border.

Throughline is part of Madison’s MFA thesis exhibition, Glimpsing Mirrors. The work is about internal dialogue, isolation, and loneliness.