Like many Alaskans, Madelyn Joan Troiano is gearing up for a busy summer.
The artist has her first solo exhibition coming up next month at Akela Space, beginning July 5 and titled “Pink Boardroom.” The mixed media exhibition features canvases, paintings, drawings, screen prints as well as a mix of interactive pieces, Troiano says.
“I have made it out of a painful period of my life and have made it really bright, and people won’t necessarily know that,” she said. “And I still haven’t decided everything that I’m going to share and how I am going to share it. I am proud of myself for deciding to do it.”
Her second show, “My Room,” will take over Kaladi Brothers Coffee on Jewel Lake for the month of August. She says the show focuses on the idea of creating in your room, because sometimes that is the only creative space a kid has.
“I get excited and inspired a lot by my artistic friends and the elementary aged kids I work with,” Troiano said. “Rich colors, daring fashion, beautiful people and places … I get excited when I have clarity and feel I have something to say.”
It wasn’t until 2021 that Troiano says she officially called herself an artist — after she left her teaching career and decided to live with a little more freedom not under contract.
“People are so private, I feel like it’s hard to suss eachother out, and artists are really timid, I think,” she said. “I am really timid.”
She describes her style as “for everyone and everyone unless stated otherwise,” and “not abstract.” Troiano says her artistic journey spring boarded after she took a college class: a comic and story boarding class out of Portland.
“That [college class] helped me see everyday objects differently in a way that I had not thought about before — just everything in terms of lines,” she said. “It makes me look at everything different.”
She believes that artists are the only ones standing in their own way — herself included — and encourages other small creators to push themselves out of their comfort zone to get what they want.
“I am trying to just focus and maybe get good at one thing — I don’t know — it is really hard,” she said. “I don’t have an attention span for it.”
Troiano has two Instagram pages highlighting her art, one to document her digital zine archive and another for all other projects.
Sam Davenport is a writer residing in Anchorage. She's a leo and a plant-person, and loves spending quality time with her dog, Aspen. She is a Real Housewives fan and has been called a Bravo historian.