Maddison Chaffer
Mural Location: 2535 Pearl St. Boulder, CO 80302 (Fresh Baked Dispensary)
Maddison Chaffer’s mural for Street Wise 2022 celebrates photosynthesis, a process upon which all life on Earth depends.
The mural is meant to be read left to right, starting with sunlight's 8-minute journey from the chromosphere of the sun to Earth, where that light hits the leaves of a plant. The plant has been waiting eagerly for this light. Hydrogen and oxygen from the water in the soil and carbon dioxide from the surrounding air provide the plant with all it needs to build its own sugar. Drawing energy from this self-generated food source, the plant can construct fibrous cell walls and grow in whichever direction it chooses. Sunlight is the energy source that kickstarts the plant’s sugary dreams by breaking apart air and water into smaller parts: hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon. Thanks to the sun, the plant is left with tidy piles of raw ingredients that will eventually construct glucose.
Although photosynthesis is an incredibly complex process, Maddison chose to paint this mural without words. They seek to encourage viewers to interact with the piece at their own pace. While researching cellular energy for the project, Maddison became overwhelmed with the jargon and abstraction necessary for a complete understanding. That's where pictures come in: visual references to both comic books and textbooks make the story of this molecular process clear enough for the viewer to follow without previous knowledge of the topic. Maddison wants this mural to spark interest in the sciences, among kids as well as older folks who have felt excluded from the sciences by their education level, language, or learning style.
Maddison has a background in kids’ education, which informs their belief in the importance of visual accessibility, especially regarding complicated or abstract topics. Art offers a great way to visually break down an esoteric into an understandable sequence of events.
Their use of earthy colors and bright hues, geometric and curvilinear shapes, and fantastical imagery reveal influences from mid-century and psychedelic graphic design. Maddison’s background as a designer informs their artistic style. They also love Constructivism, namely how it serves a very distinct purpose. Every individual element of an illustration or design exists for the benefit of the whole, which is a helpful way to start to conceptualize topics like photosynthesis.
About the Artist: