MADACSI STUDIOS
Artist Susan Madacsi - Garden City, Idaho
Susan Madacsi Curriculum Vitae
FEATURES & VIDEOS
WHO WE ARE
Madacsi Studios applies design thinking to create artwork, utilizing materials including forged and fabricated steel, copper and bronze, architectural glass, fused glass, and LED lighting. For close to twenty years, Madacsi Studios has produced projects installed in public spaces and artwork for private commissions. We work with art service groups, consultants, interior designers, and architects both nationally and internationally, designing, collaborating, fabricating, and coordinating installations.
As a full service art and design studio specializing in highly crafted ironwork using traditional and non-traditional blacksmithing techniques, our mission is to inspire appreciation for the art of traditional American blacksmithing by creating metalwork that distinguishes itself in quality and design. Each of our works are created with exacting standards and with a high level of craftsmanship and structural integrity
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Our philosophy is that design, aesthetic beauty, and attention to detail are essential to realizing a successful piece of art that connects with its environment. It begins with concept and design, followed by collaboration to build proposals that integrate the client’s style, as well as their site-specific and functional needs. We are endlessly inspired by the collaborative process of seeing projects through - from gestures and words on paper - to authentic time and place presence. We understand the value and importance of careful project oversight; managing budget restrictions, due dates, and subcontractors, as well as coordinating with construction managers and contractors.
OUR STORY
Owner and operator Susan Madacsi, a career artist/blacksmith, founded Madacsi Metalwork, LLC in 1998. Madacsi Studios, LLC was founded in 2014 in Garden City, Idaho and is a part of a rising community of independent artists and fabricators, studios, urban wineries, brewing companies, venues and galleries. In a small community nestled within Boise, the Studios are just a stone's throw from the beautiful Boise River, and only a short drive or bike ride from downtown. Though Garden City is a bit rough around the edges, it offers artists, small businesses and entrepreneurs a chance to work in large spaces, and be a part of a creative community. Madacsi Studios was developed to offer homeowners, business owners, architects, designers, collectors and gallery owners an opportunity to acquire and add heirloom quality pieces with custom design to their collections. The custom studio work is considered an investment to the client; the architectural and ornamental metalworks add value and equity to homes and business. Our work is steeped in American tradition and we relish in the opportunity to share the timeless techniques, to inspire younger generations to maintain perpetual respect and desire for hand crafted and old world arts.
Madacsi works with steel in the traditional forging manor of a blacksmith. When steel is heated to forging temperatures approximately 2200 degrees it can be manipulated in the same ways as clay. She explores and pushes the plasticity of the material in this hot state achieving a variety of layered textures and patterns. Madacsi begins a piece by making a multitude of elements to work with, then intuitively arranges the pieces until she has a composition that she finds interesting and that captures an element of beauty. Once a piece carries these aesthetic qualities she joins the work together by means of welding and riveting. Finally applying aerosol enamel paint and a variety of techniques to distress the surface. By using pigment she has found that she is able to emphasize the many textures that evolve from forging. The result is an interpretation of a contemporary form that hints towards nature and is an attempt to capture entropy. Although steel is usually first thought of as an industrial material, Madacsi likes to draw attention to our connection with it on a human level, by creating objects that reveal organic forms. Her work is the result of her desire to use steel as a substrate for texture and form, and as a pallet for exploring color.