Madalyn K. Shaw

Madalyn K. Shaw is a writer and researcher of Jamaican descent and dual Canadian American nationality, with a background in contemporary art history & visual culture. As a graduate of OCAD University in the Contemporary Art, Design, and New Media Art Histories (CADN) MA program, her research is shaped by studies of plurality and possibility, with a particular emphasis on Black & Caribbean diasporic art, modern and contemporary art & photography, and issues of temporality in art and culture. Her attentiveness to temporality also informs her curatorial work and interest in contemporary globalized identities.

Madalyn holds a BA in Art History from Georgetown University. Her award-winning undergraduate thesis on UFO photography titled, “Space Age Spectres: Exploring UFO and Space Exploration Photography in Mid-Twentieth Century American Astroculture,” inspired her current doctoral research on UFO photography and its affective, temporal, historical, cultural, theoretical and spiritual registers. Methodologically, she is interested in breaking down the dialectics of fact/fiction and real/imaginary that underpin what counts as historical knowledge.

Since her artist residency at Alice Yard in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, she’s become interested in research-creation & artistic approaches to academic research which prioritize experimentation, play, collaboration, innovation, risk-taking, & creative critique. Currently she is working towards developing her art criticism and creative writing practice. Her writing has been published by "ESPACE art actuel" and "The Georgetown Anthem." She also writes a blog.

Honours, Awards and Grants

• 2024 Doctoral Recruitment Award, University of Toronto
• 2024 W. Bernard Herman Scholarship in Art, University of Toronto
• 2024 Recognition of Excellence Award for Indigenous and Black Students, University of Toronto
• 2023 Graduate Studies First Year Award, OCAD University
• 2022-2024 President’s Scholarship, OCAD University
• 2022 Leo Doran (C’2015) Award for Art History, Georgetown University
• 2021 Royden B. Davis Summer Research Fellowship, Georgetown University

Selected Publications

• "On Curating Dischronotopicality: Organizing Time and Temporality in Exhibitions of Caribbean Diasporic Art," in “Timing Diaspora, Diasporic Art in Two Acts: Examining Black and Caribbean Diasporic Temporality” [Major Research Project, OCAD University]. OCAD University Open Research Repository. (2024)
• "Whose Time Is It Anyway? Temporality and the Liberatory Politics of Black Quantum Futurism Theory and Practice," in “Timing Diaspora, Diasporic Art in Two Acts: Examining Black and Caribbean Diasporic Temporality” [Major Research Project, OCAD University]. OCAD University Open Research Repository. (2024)

Professional Affiliations

• Universities Art Association of Canada