S12 E34: Delaware State of the Arts - A Journey with Artist Cony Madariaga

Prepare to be inspired as we share an enlightening conversation with Coney Maderyaga, a uniquely talented artist and 2023 fellow from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Discover how her roots in Santiago, Chile and her passion for Frida Kahlo have shaped her artistic journey. Alongside her, we unravel the fascinating crossroads where her background in behavioral sciences meets her creative endeavors. As a dedicated teaching artist, Coney is passionate about uplifting her fellow artists within the Delaware group, and she couldn't be more excited to give us a sneak peek into her upcoming exhibition, "Extranjera/Extranjero".

The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is committed to supporting the arts and cultivating creativity to enhance the quality of life in Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts, and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. Learn more at Arts.Delaware.Gov.

Delaware State of the Arts is a weekly podcast that presents interviews with arts organizations and leaders who contribute to the cultural vibrancy of communities throughout Delaware. Delaware State of the Arts is provided as a service of the Division of the Arts, in partnership with NEWSRADIO 1450 WILM and 1410 WDOV.

Transcript

Andy Truscott: 0:09

For Delaware State of the Arts, I'm Andy Truscott. My guest today is Coney Maderyaga. Born in Santiago, Chile, she has been in love with art since she was a young child. The need to create constantly runs through her body and all of her pieces have been created by this feeling that takes her over and needs to be propelled into some kind of canvas. Coney is a 2023 individual artist fellow from the Delaware Division of the Arts and was also named a 2023 artist in residency at the Delaware Contemporary. Thank you so much for joining me today and, as we kick off a little bit, can you share a bit about your early memories growing up and how those experiences continue to influence you and your artwork today?

Cony Madariaga: 0:50

Yes, hi, andy, thank you so much for having me. So when people ask me like how long I've been, you know, into art, for I always say forever. I moved here when I was seven, so I do have a good amount of memories like growing up. But I think moving here like I've always went into art, like I've always had a sketchbook, I've always wanted to take all the art classes and it was always like my space right. So I have, like in my work you'll see a lot of like nostalgic stuff, like my family in Chile, my grandparents, so I you know what I mean. Like I try to get pieces from my background in Chile, but I moved at such a young age.

Andy Truscott: 1:28

Talk to us a little bit about where you pull inspiration from for your pieces.

Cony Madariaga: 1:32

So my inspiration varies and I've always felt like I've had a hard time answering this question for a long time when people are like what kind of art do you do? And I'm like a little bit of everything. So it varies from portraits, still life. The portraits can go like I have a lot of Frida Kahlo pieces. I'm a little obsessed with her. I've been inspired a lot by the Black Lives Matter movements, so those pieces are a little bit more emotional to me and they've been done by an inspiration. But it's also like this feeling of like you want to get that out. But I'm literally always inspired. I might be like drinking coffee somewhere and I see two people like sitting there and I'm like, oh wow, what a moment. So I might try to sketch it real quick.

Andy Truscott: 2:23

Talk to us a little bit about the elements of Frida's work that resonate with you and how that influence can be seen in your own work.

Cony Madariaga: 2:31

I think her culture and how she referenced her culture a lot. I love that. I think colors in general that's the one piece of her work that you can see in my work but I just love her authenticity, like the unibrow, the mustache, the not necessarily always dressing like a typical strong woman, strong female. I just love her honest.

Andy Truscott: 2:56

Koni, everyone comes to the arts differently. Right, you have an educational background in behavioral sciences, but you've always kind of been drawn to art. How do you see the connection between your artistic expression and then kind of the background that you have in behavioral sciences?

Cony Madariaga: 3:14

So funny story. Well, I feel like growing up as much as I loved art, like in high school, like I took, I think by my senior year, I was taking like four different art classes and at one point my teacher wanted to push for me to go to art school and I was like at that moment in my life I didn't know that that was an option, that I could actually be a successful artist. So I was like, let me do something where the money is secure. So that's how I went into behavioral science. I've always also had a need for helping people. So I was like, all right, let me get into that.

Cony Madariaga: 3:51

And I still help people in my everyday life. Like I'm just a natural giver kind of person. But I'm actually no longer like using my degree, like the job that I have now per se, but yeah, I think it just. I think in my artistic practice the way that still connects. Like I said, I'm a giver. So, like you know, I like to help any other artists that I meet, even artists that are like more upcoming than me, like newer to this. I think I've learned, I've learned from other artists and I just love to share. I don't like to gatekeep, you know it's a. I think we have a wonderful community in Delaware and part of that is just sharing what we know. I told a million people apply for the fellowship this year.

Andy Truscott: 4:32

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that I you saw that you know, front and center at award winners down at the Biggs. You know you connecting with and speaking with almost every individual artist. That was part of the fellowship and even kind of the the uplifting that you you do to all of those that are in the room. Right, so this isn't just you're there for yourself, but you're there to help uplift everyone, no matter kind of where they are in their artistic journey.

Cony Madariaga: 4:57

Yeah, for sure, I feel like, um, I've always said I'm an artist, regardless. You know, I'm thankful to God for that. Like I feel like I'm, as long as I can, I'm always going to be an artist. And to me, like, when I say that, I feel like there's all types of artists, there's people who are so an artist even if they never showed before, right, so like I'm always an artist. And then, like this is just as new to me as it is, you know, to anyone else who's just started, who wants to like make a career, who wants there art to be seen. So I take a lot of like to the heart to be able to like extend anything I know and ask like keep on growing.

Andy Truscott: 5:31

You're also not just an artist for artist's sake, but you are a teaching artist at a few different organizations around the state. Talk to us about what you get out of those experiences and then what you hope the community gets from your involvement with those kind of activities.

Cony Madariaga: 5:47

Yeah, I literally get so much joy if I have to find a word just to be able to, you know, share a little bit of what I do and give people the space to do what they do and do it their way, but, you know, to be able to have this place where they already have the supplies, where they have someone who can guide them a little bit, um, it's just always very rewarding and I've been doing it for like a little over a year now, um, and diving a little bit deeper into it.

Cony Madariaga: 6:13

I'm hoping that this year I'll have like a few more residencies, teaching residencies, um, so I'm excited about that. But it's always very rewarding. People's reaction, like right now, um, mostly, like constantly through this year I've been working with, uh, los Abuelos, which is a senior group at LACC, um, and that's through healing, through the arts, through the Delaware Museum of Art, and it's just their reaction every single time, their willingness to participate, to take on something new. And then I think the biggest, the biggest reward of that is just being in community, right, like the conversations that you get there are amazing.

Andy Truscott: 6:54

The pandemic no doubt brought some challenges and for some individual artists, that also brought opportunities. That you were allowed to have a little more dedicated studio time, a little more you time to kind of view the world through a different lens. Uh, how do you feel like that opportunity presented itself to you and do you feel like your artistic uh expression or direction or direction has has progressed since the beginning of 2020?

Cony Madariaga: 7:19

The pandemic was really like a big factor in my life, as to everyone else, but as far as like taking advantage of whatever good might come from that, for me, it looked like I was literally making art every day. Um, I was painting, drawing every day. It was also a time where I'm like I really want to do this, like you know. I mean, I really want to dedicate more time to my art, so that 2020, um is when I left my job. I was doing like counseling, like social work, um, and I was like, whoom, I'm gonna take this step.

Cony Madariaga: 7:53

So I I left my job, I went and got a job serving, which, at the time, was more flexible, um, and I could, I could really, you know, put time into my art. So it just really opened my, my eyes to be like, okay, this is what you're doing. Like it gave me the gift of time, which was priceless, um, you know, everything has its pros and cons, you know, and I've lived by myself at the moment too. So it was like all right, like let me just put it all here. You know, when you were scared, when you were worried, like it was all left on a canvas, but yeah, I'm thankful for that because I was able to really make that shift in my career, like, okay, let me find something that will allow me to have time to do this.

Andy Truscott: 8:36

Talk to me about how the Division's individual artist fellowship has had an impact, just even this year, on your journey, and how it's encouraged you or provided opportunities that maybe you feel like you might not have had without it.

Cony Madariaga: 8:50

I was sorry by saying, when I got that email, that I got it, I literally burst into tears. I was like, oh my god, it was so good. It was just such a good feeling. It still is and, you know, aside from like the money part was so helpful, like I was able to pay for the studio that I was set at the time, able to get supplies. But then the amount of opportunities that came from that, like just networking, meeting new people you know I'll have my exhibition is still up at the Biggs, I'll have work in Smyrna because of, you know, people reaching out to me for the fellowship. So it's been great all around. It's been, you know, like great networking, you know, to talk to people and meet people that I really never thought I would meet. You know what I mean Like the curator for the Biggs Museum, like, and it was also like a feeling of like, oh, like me, me, like it was so good.

Andy Truscott: 9:46

Looking ahead, you've mentioned producing an entirely new body of work in 2023. What themes, styles or mediums do you hope to explore in this new kind of creative phase?

Cony Madariaga: 9:57

Yes, so I feel like you know, I say I always been painting and stuff, and it's true, but I think when I first, I remember, like in 2019, I had my first exhibition and like sometime before then, after that, just like always painting not necessarily know what I was painting, but it just that need to move the brush and then through the last few years, I just been able to like make more intentional decisions, like you know what I'm going to paint, this, I'm going to paint that instead of just sitting with a blank, which is also good to do, but I've, I'm happy that.

Cony Madariaga: 10:29

I'm happy that I'm now able to like have an idea my new body of work that I want to like. I started to paint images of like people in togetherness and you know that's like a broad topic, but I just wanted to like show like a mom and a child or a person and a dog, and just be able to like capture those moments, because I'm always in awe when I see moments like that. Like that's one of the things that inspire me. So I just want to be able to capture those moments that put me in all and transfer them to a canvas. So that's one of the things that I want to do. I also paint really fast for the most part, so like I can go from like one thing to another.

Andy Truscott: 11:08

I want to take just a minute here to remind our listeners that you're tuned into News Radio 1450 WILM and 1410 WDOV for Delaware State of the Arts Koni as we kind of transition here. Right, you're opening a show that you've curated yourself on September 22nd over at the Chris White Gallery. Tell us more about the show and what patrons can expect to see when they walk inside the doors.

Cony Madariaga: 11:32

Yes. So I'm really excited to first of all put on the curator hat. I just want to shout out all the curators out there, it's a cool, intense but very amazing job. The show is called extranjera extranjero, which means foreigner. When I was approached, you know, for the opportunity to do this show for the month of September, for Hispanic hair decision march, which I believe starts September 15. I was super excited.

Cony Madariaga: 11:58

I was like, okay, so my brain just went to this feeling that I've always had no soy de aquí, no soy de ya, and a lot of people who you know, I mean, who have some kind of connection to another country, you know, feel this way and that means I'm not from here nor from there. You know, like when I go back home, I haven't been back home but say, if I'm around, like my cousins or stuff like that, I'm like I don't feel Chilean enough, you know. And then over here, so it's like, okay, like you know, I am American, but it's the part that still feels like you're somewhere in between. So I really wanted to acknowledge that feeling. And then just everyone's stories. Everyone has a story, whether they migrated here as a child or their parents did.

Cony Madariaga: 12:43

We have about 19 different artists. Most of them are Delaware locals. There's a few that are from, like, philadelphia, but I'm just super excited to get everyone's work and put this story together. I've also been able to like meet some new artists and some of their stories and I'm like wow, like you know what I mean. I get to be a little part of that, like give you a space to save this, because a lot of people Vesinate with the I'm not from here, I'm not from there and a lot of people have stories like their immigration stories are huge. So I'm I'm really excited about that. We'll have the art loop October 6. We're gonna have a market day, meaning you can come see the exhibition and there'll be like prints and smaller pieces of work that people can buy. That's gonna be Saturday, october 21st, and then the closing reception will be November 3rd.

Andy Truscott: 13:31

I'm super excited to to be a part of this for those listening that might not know what goes into kind of curating an art show. Talk to us a little bit about what that means and what your responsibilities are, and kind of bringing the show to life.

Cony Madariaga: 13:45

This is a group exhibition and I wanted to, you know, give space to as many people as I could. So that's why I have about 19 artists and that looked like me one coming up with the theme, you know what I mean. And second, okay, reach. Now it was important for me to reach out to Latino artists, you know, or anyone who identifies with that story per se because of Hispanic Heritage Month. But reaching out to artists, you know, seeing if there's something that they already done, that I want to have any exhibition reviewing all the work that they're submitting.

Cony Madariaga: 14:17

I asked everyone to submit about five pieces and I'm choosing at least like two to three from each artist. It just really depends on the size. So that's been, you know, that's been fun and just like looking at everyone's work and then trying to put it together. And then there's also like it has been fun, it has been like, and I think, because the theme is so close to me that I'm like, oh, I think I'm made for this, but it's definitely a lot of work. And then it's a lot of like, you know, like, admin work that goes into it, and then just working with, like, the gallery itself, you know, like having you know, okay, what day is the artist going to drop off the work, making sure that the work is ready to be hung, and all of that stuff. So I do want to shout out Jayquan Loveroy, because he's been a hundred percent helpful with this as well.

Andy Truscott: 15:03

How do you think this experience has helped you grow as an individual artist on the other side of the spectrum?

Cony Madariaga: 15:10

I think in many ways. One it helps me see like there's so many more things that you can do as an artist. Right, and I mean I've learned that with. I'm not a communication artist, but I'm like I want to take this and like go to Philly next. You know what I mean Like I would love to take this and make it travel eventually. But this experience has been good, and then it's also good to like I've done a good amount of exhibitions now, so I do understand what, like how I need to present my work to the gallery. But it's just understanding from the other side. You know what I mean. Like send your work on time, like all around. It just makes you appreciate what the curator does. I think I can do like maybe like two, maybe. I said I could probably do this twice a year.

Andy Truscott: 15:52

As you think back right on a younger you, or even as you, as as you mentor other artists, they're kind of growing up through their artistic path. What's some advice that you might share with upcoming artists?

Cony Madariaga: 16:05

My thing is keep dreaming, keep dreaming. A lot of times, I feel like we are our worst critics, you know, and we feel like, oh, I'm not that good, or you know, like me, I was like I can't make a living out of.

Cony Madariaga: 16:17

Selma artwork. You know, when I was in high school and I wish that I would have known, no, like, there's so many ways that you can do this, you know. So if there's something that's pulling at you, if there's something that you truly want to do, I would say do it, you know, and whatever that looks like for you, because everyone has different resources. So, if it looks like a little sketchbook at night and just getting it out that way, cool, you know, like, do it in whatever way it works for you and eventually you'll be able to make more space for it. I think as you start, like, realizing and seeing and opportunities, opportunities will come, but you've got to be ready for them. So that's that's my thing trying to, like, you know, learn to get ready, and I've found so much help within the artist community in Wilmington.

Cony Madariaga: 17:03

You know, like, I didn't always know how to do an artist statement. You know, I didn't always know, like, how should my website look? You know, and I'm very proud of my website, but you, there's other people that've done this, you know what I mean. So, and most people are 100% willing to say, hey, you know, I did this, maybe this can help you. Or hey, I use this or I went here. So just reaching out to people and honestly just believing in your dreams and just doing it if that's something that you truly want to do.

Andy Truscott: 17:32

Talk to me about yourself right now, in this moment. How do you think you define success for yourself? Are there any specific milestones or achievements that you're looking to accomplish in the coming years, and what kind of when you look back makes you makes you really proud of the work that you've accomplished so far?

Cony Madariaga: 17:50

I think you know success, you know it's a definition to each person, but to me, it's always been the fact that I get to do this. You know, like I'm 32 and I get to do this not full time but almost full time and I just I feel lucky to do that, I feel successful in that, you know, and the fact and then I've learned to do other things with my skills, like I can teach, like that, to me, that was something that at one point, I was was the word I guess a little insecure about it because I didn't have the technical skills from going to an art school. So that's something that I've always been like. But can I really do this? So I'm really proud of myself for doing this for over a year and jumping into it way more, and like when into the residency, that to me was huge.

Cony Madariaga: 18:40

Like what? Like I'm an artist, I'm an artist, I'm an artist. So it's just living. Literally, I feel like I'm living my dream and they're only getting bigger. So I think right now I'm pretty like this year's super busy, but I'm already like, okay, what's next? What's for? You know, 2025 at this point, because my residency at the contemporary is gonna go on to 2024. So I'm like what can I, you know, what can I apply to, or what's it gonna look like for me back then, and you know, you can only plan so much ahead of time.

Cony Madariaga: 19:11

but that is something that I've learned is to like start looking at things like for my fellowship Like I started working on that, I think, the minute it opened and I worked a little bit like every soul until it was almost time for it to be due same for my residency. So just taking the time to really find what it is that I could do or would want to do, and putting it all to that.

Andy Truscott: 19:35

As we wrap up here, remind us one more time the dates for the Chris White Gallery show where the Chris White Gallery is located and you know how someone can get in touch with you if they're interested in learning more or working with you.

Cony Madariaga: 19:48

Yes, so the dates for the Chris White Gallery, the opening reception would be September 22nd, but we have the art loop October 6th, we have El Mercado de Arte, which would be the market. That would be October 21st. The time for that is 12 to four, and then we have the closing reception on November 3rd, which I believe is November's art loop in Wilmington, and that would be five to nine. I am you can reach me through my email, through my Instagram, which is conymadariaga, and then my website is literally the same, without the dot in the middle, but all of that stuff is the link is on my Instagram. But, yeah, reach out to me. I like to feel like I'm an open door for people. I'm excited. I'm excited to take on new projects for the upcoming year. ["dell Aware State of the Arts"].

Andy Truscott: 21:02

Dell Aware State of the Arts is a weekly podcast that presents interviews with arts organizations and leaders who contribute to the cultural vibrancy of communities throughout Delaware. Delaware State of the Arts is provided as a service of the Delaware Division of the Arts in partnership with News Radio, 1450WILM and 1410WDOV. The Delaware Division of the Arts, a branch of the Delaware Department of State, is committed to supporting the arts and cultivating creativity to enhance the quality of life in Delaware. Together with its advisory body, the Delaware State Arts Council, the Division administers grants and programs that support arts programming, educate the public, increase awareness of the arts and integrate the arts into all facets of Delaware life. To find out more about the division, visit artsdellawaregov.