Artist Profile: MAX MALONE
Who are you?
I’m Max (or Maximillian) Malone, I’m a freelance artist/designer and weekend bar legend, living in Brunswick.
How you came into working with collage? What’s your creative background?
I moved to Melbourne two years ago, leaving my beloved Bristol and entire lifetimes worth of collage ephemera behind in storage.
Fast-Forward to present day and I’ve amassed the same amount again (if not more!) here in Melbs.
Why collage?
There is so much variety within the medium.
It can be immediate, filled with impulse and rash decision-making, or, it can take years for that lucky moment to arrive when two elements combine perfectly.
There’s the option to take it seriously as a contemporary art form, but theres also the opportunity to be totally silly with it and treat it like a game. In that regard it’s open to all (regardless of skillset), thats how i initially got into it as I struggled to paint or draw in art school.
The image gathering process is perhaps the most fun part for me though, i get a real sense of enjoyment hunting for books.
Describe your practice and workspace. Are you messy or organised? Do you have sorted cut outs, rituals, methods of working?
Onlookers and other collagists would say that my set up looks very tidy, however I don’t think that at all and would love to further categorise and sub-divide my collection.
Side note from editor: Max’s collection of cut outs is really something else. Keep an eye of his Instagram for sneak peeks into his amazing collection.
How has your practice evolved?
I’m still experimenting down several different avenues, developing my ‘painting with scissors’ approach whilst recently taking time to work on collage that’s more minimal. The past few years has seen me shift to using predominantly illustrative clippings rather than photographic but I’m always shifting and changing approaches.
Favourite artist?
At the moment it's film maker and actor Taika Waititi.
Where to next?
Settling into my new studio space that I’m sharing with fellow MCA member Kieran Madden.
I’m wondering what kind of collaborative efforts may happen and how much cross-pollination will occur between our different approaches.
Already I’ve been bookmarking pages from his library!
Is there anything else we should know about you?
Keep an eye on my Instagram as I have plans to run more collage-making workshops from my home-studio.
