About
Madeleine's love of art began in France, in childhood visits to the Louvre. Those long afternoons among the paintings stayed with her when she migrated to Australia at seventeen, and they have never left.
For many years she worked in oils with a brush. When her sight declined she did not stop painting. She changed how she paints.
“As my vision declined, finger painting became an alternative to brushwork.” Madeleine Popper
Artist Statement, 2024
After 20 years, I am at peace with the loss of my sight. Art has been the magic antidote. For no reason, I left the eye specialist rooms, angry, sad and at a loss. What am I going to do with the rest of my life? The urge to paint was the next phase of discovery. Slowly, my fingers, covered in paint, caressed the canvas, formed shapes, smeared yellows and blues. I was now in my peaceful paradise of imagination and excitement.
The outcome does not really matter. This is peace of mind, peace with the world of shapes and colours, and peace with those who say: but you can't do this!
The Practice
Today Madeleine paints with her fingers as well as brushes, guided by touch, the memory of colour, and the feel of oil paint on the canvas. The result is work that is vivid, textured and unmistakably hers.
View the Paintings
Advocacy
Madeleine is a passionate advocate for people living with vision loss and for vision research. Through her painting and her exhibitions she shows that creativity changes shape, and it keeps going.
She welcomes invitations to speak with community groups, schools and organisations about art, blindness and living a creative life.
Exhibitions
