It all started with Big Tiny

S.V. Medaris has been exhibiting her work professionally since 2004 with her debut of A One Chick Show, featuring a 20ft painting The Return of Big Tiny, now hanging in the Training Center on the Epic Systems campus.

For Medaris, the purpose of making the artwork is to visually educate, show the different species and breeds (dogs, cats, chickens, peafowl, turkeys, and pigs she has raised on this farm in the Driftless area of Wisconsin since 1998), and tell visual stories that often expose the drama and/or humor inherent in raising the various livestock for meat or as pets.

Over a dozen Solo Exhibits in 20 years—including Abel Contemporary, MOWA (Museum of Wisconsin Art), James Watrous Gallery—focus on themes of rural life and domestic animal husbandry, the relationships we have with livestock and they with each other, and their unique characteristics. Medaris’ Work in Relief Prints and Oils tell visual stories of how animals inform, educate, and profoundly affect us in emotional, psychological and physical ways. Archive of all work at Gallery.

Medaris has been represented since 2005 by Abel Contemporary in Stoughton, WI. An MFA in 2011 at UW-Madison in printmaking allowed her to add block prints as storytelling vehicles alongside the oils. Artworks are in numerous public and private collections in the U.S. and abroad including Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum, Museum of Wisconsin Art, Epic Systems Corporation, Denver Art Museum and UW Children’s Hospital.

The Exhibits page shows a selection of past solo exhibits, as well as upcoming shows.

For news, blog and stories from her Printmaking Studio please visit Market Weight Press.

Sue also works as a full-time Graphic Designer & Illustrator (Print, Digital, Web design) at Media Solutions (at UW–Madison School of Medicine & Public Health).