Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1975, Madeline Fairbanks holds a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Art History from Skidmore College, New York, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Visual Studies from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in 2000. Fairbanks participated in a yearlong study abroad program in Paris, where she studied at Spéos Photographie Internationale and apprenticed with American photographer, Terry Pollack. Her Master’s thesis work included a series titled Geographies of Home, a visual essay about place. She has exhibited in Minnesota at MCAD, Calhoun Square, the Soap Factory Gallery, L’Alliance Française, and her work has been included in a Walker Art Center film. Fairbanks currently lives in Washington, DC where she works as a photographer and designer.
Fairbanks was raised in the small town of Ely, Minnesota on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Her work often recalls the remote landscapes and powerful natural elements which shaped her experiences and sensibilities. Fairbanks focuses on sacred and historically significant sites to tell new and revised narratives that push beyond the representational to show highly personal interpretations of place.
