Still from Chaos, 2026, Still image from stop motion animation, Size varies

Madison L’Hoste (Maze) is a first-year MFA candidate working in Time Based Art at UT. They are originally from New Orleans and spent most of their life in Birmingham, Alabama. Maze received their Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Montevallo, concentrating in New Media Art with a minor in Art History. Their body of artwork has evolved over the years, but the main thread between each series has been stop motion animation and assemblage. Maze is now continuing their exploration of stop motion, as well as leaning into performance and movement art. 

Artist Statement

I create stop motion animations and performance artwork as a tool for observing, feeling, and processing reality and experiences in my body. There is a psychosomatic geography within my mind and body. This is the terrain which I am exploring and mapping through my work. I am grounded by a dialogue between my hands and materials. In my practice, I grapple with questions such as: where do I end and my environment begins? What does ‘place’ mean in my life? I use asemic writing, a form of markmaking which resembles written words, but has no clear literary meaning. Drawn initially by the elusive quality of asemic writing, I am now working with it as a reflection of belonging on Earth. Asemic texts are illegible and beautiful. They can be read back directly by no one, and belong to no specific language, yet belong deeply to everyone. I have little to no connection with my heritage, the gender assigned to me at birth, or my own sense of home. I feel out of place in many societal, social, physical, and personal contexts. Through my sensory-driven and free verse approach to processing the world and describing reality, I break apart expectations around what does and does not belong.