Madelyn Churchill (b. 2003) is an American painter based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She received her BFA from the University of Minnesota in 2026. Through self-portraiture, Churchill’s paintings discuss topics of land, identity, and healing. Churchill is deeply inspired by her past, present, and future experiences as an Anishinaabe woman within the woodlands of Minnesota in hopes of healing her wounds of disconnection. While Churchill is hopeful for a better future for her people. Churchill hopes to help others feel recognized through her Indigenous experiences.
At the end of her time at the University of Minnesota, Churchill co-curated and exhibited in her BFA Senior Thesis show in May 2026. She has shown in other spaces such as SooVAC and the Cube Gallery. Churchill continues to explore her interests as a practicing painter; she has also taken on roles as a Curatorial Intern and research assistant with the University of Minnesota Department of Art and the Weisman Art Museum.
Through self-portraiture, I am continuously working through what it means to be an Indigenous woman in this world. The relationship to the land and land stewardship is sacred. I feel wronged knowing that the land I grew up on was land that nobody wanted– only fit for someone who was “inhuman.” Because of the removal of Indigenous people, we are unable to experience the land as intended. The colonial values and ways of life that have been instilled into our day-to-day lives have affected Indigenous people’s abilities to follow cultural traditions. The land was not meant to be separated by property lines, nor were my people meant to be put onto Reservations. The Earth is meant to be interacted with and respected as another being— that is what my people believe. Through my paintings, I hope to help myself and others truly understand these lands of Minnesota.
Painting helps me resolve some of these feelings of disconnection. This modality allows me to put feelings into a visual description. I want to use the abstraction of paint against canvas to disrupt these landscapes, showing my relentless, desperate reach towards experiencing the land around me. Addressing these topics can hopefully bring clarity to my main questions: What does the land mean to me? And– what do I mean to the land?