Telling Mom/Heavy Chair
- Thread on Pieces of Drop Cloth Canvas
- 85 x 63 in
- $250
- Malakai Schulz
Derived from memory, my work makes space for a topic that has no room in everyday conversation. Imbued with catharsis and criticism, the setting is defined by windowless interior spaces, patterned tile floors, and empty walls. The paintings manifest as self-portraits that live in the realm of taboo and wallow in cynicism. They expose the fractured and isolating systems within the U.S. mental healthcare system, often underlined by secondary scenes or breaks from the verisimilitude of the primary image. I find that certain experiences from within psychiatric hospitals come to mind at unlikely times–walking on the bathroom tile, touching a fabric that feels reminiscent of a hospital gown, entering a corridor with fluorescent lighting. Re-creating and re-interpreting these memories on low quality, torn canvas satisfies a need I feel to purge obsessive and defeatist ruminations.My practice is a channel for grief and an outlet for the voices of my reality and history that yearn to have a place in the world. Repeated and excessive hospital stays at the highest level of mental healthcare may not be a common experience, but I have to believe that to some degree the work speaks to more universal experiences of isolation, transition, and woe. Beyond that, I hope that my work speaks to the profound and many-faceted pools of reality existing within every human. I do not shy away from the messiness and confusion; I do not feel a need to make sense of the pieces.
Bio:
Malakai Schulz is an emerging multi-media artist, born in Dearborn, Michigan. He has lived throughout Florida and recently relocated to Madison, Wisconsin with his partner. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Central Florida in 2022 with a concentration in drawing. Malakai has been the Co-Founder and Organizer of the Untitled Artist Collective since 2023. Malakai had his first solo show, “something ugly, something sweet” in 2022 at the Gallery Dupont in the Stetson University Dupont Ball Library in DeLand, Florida; and has shown his work in multiple group shows.
- Collections: Fragility and Fortitude