Malado Baldwin

Sacred Object Project

This idea came to me of relating to each other through aesthetic dialogue: symbolic artifacts in diverse cultures that, through association, acknowledge a borderless love of beauty, skill, and human expression. To locate the intersections of iconography and create equalized value across time and place, extending beyond regions and beliefs. The works become meditations on form pulled from their context and re-imagined within association...reducing and enlarging disparate items to the same scale and material to neutralize their worth and social/economic significance.

When I think about the ideal place for my work: the homes and offices of world leaders and heads of state- where the acknowledgement of shared beauty becomes a form of symbolic diplomacy. 

Halo/necklace (Slovakian lace centerpiece, Mexican crown sculpture, Egyptian necklace)

Head/hand/heart (chief’s hat, Mbala/Democratic rep. of Congo, pectoral of Quetzacoatl, Mayan/Mexico, king’s crown, Yoruba/Nigeria, Arabian dagger)

3D rendering: pectoral of Quetzacoatl (wind breastplate)

Malado is a multi-media artist based in Los Angeles since 2013-following fifteen years in New York. Recent projects include “Bring back what you can find” a web-based publication with author Iver Arnegard for 7x7 LA, drawings and paintings for “Modern Oracles” at Trestle Projects Brooklyn, creative workshops with Trade School LA, the Association of Hysteric Curators, and a multi-part film + art project with artist Sarah Walko called LUX/NOX. 

http://maladofrancine.com/