The past year has been one of intense personal and emotional growth. I spent more time outdoors than I have since I was little. I moved home for a bit. My family experienced loss… my first real loss. We worked together to see and feel each little moment that seemed important. The forsythia bloomed in the fall. When I returned home for Thanksgiving, it was 70 degrees outside; the warmth meant the world. We didn’t speak of what we were all thinking. I learned of a type of care I hadn’t experienced. Care that is permanent and powerful. Nurturing as necessity. This body of work is about all of those feelings. It’s about blooming, pruning, and accepting. It’s about being glad, and sad, that I was there. And I’m still working through it.

Madison Hansen creates objects and installations that illustrate her perspective on nurture in relationships. The works present private narratives, such as focusing on tactics to solve a problem or care for an object. Often care is incorrectly applied, which Hansen illustrates in displays like using a band-aid to fix a crack in the concrete. Her material research begins by collecting greeting cards, child development books, and books on gardening. These common yet provoking thematic sources aid the conversation about false, forced, and constructive nurturing. Hansen’s process directly reflects the nurture she has given, received, and observed. She creates with care and intention while discussing the problems behind giving and nurture. 

Hansen lives and works in Brooklyn, New York, but considers Richmond, Virginia to be her first home.