About the artist!

Madilyn Shones is a Pittsburgh-based artist who specializes in the macabre. Motivated by the strange and unsettling, her work as a special-effects and beauty make-up artist reflects a fascination with the unconventional. Each creation mirrors her evolving self and ideas, striving to capture the raw, eerie beauty that resonates in both art and life. During her time at Douglas Education Center, she was a make-up artist completing pneumatic blood squibs, creature make-up, and correction make-up for local independent films. In the classroom, Madi is quick to learn, support, and lead her peers in practice and final design. Her skills as a detail-oriented visual artist have been apparent in concept design, sculptures, molding, prosthetics, and beauty applications. Shones delves into the distorted corporeal body in art, offering projects that engage the viewer and question their ideals about the human condition. Her personal work focuses on muted colors and bruise-like tones; unfortunately for glitter haters, she tends to implement sparkle, illuminating the beauty in gore. Motivated by these concepts, her evolution as an artist inspires projects of grotesque imagery that embody the challenges humans face while portraying the beauty within the absurd. While her art is monstrous on the outside, observers find themselves aware of detail and deeper meaning that goes beyond the preposterous and causes reflection. She hopes to one day settle the artist within her and expand her expression to a larger audience to enjoy and contemplate.