12 | Becoming A Master Of Something New with Mad Dame

Alexis chats with Mad Dame - a Melbourne photographer and artist specialising in nude glitter portraits celebrating all genders and bodies. She shares her grounding rituals, the story of how her business came about, and how she creates deep, intentional experiences for every client that steps into her world. Mad Dame talks about embracing imperfection, using every resource fearlessly, and offers her secret to authentic networking. Tune in for an inspiring conversation about creativity, connection, and self-expression

 

If you’d like to see more, you can follow Jess on instagram, all art @maddameart or glitter portraits at @maddameglitter 

 

This episode was recorded on 11th May 2025 on the lands of the Woiworung Peoples. We hope that this episode inspires you as a creative person and as a human being.

Thanks for listening, catch you on the next episode.

Psst! We are always on the lookout for creative people to share their story and inspire others. Have you got someone in mind who would love to have a chat? Get in contact with us via Instagram @throughthecreativedoor

 

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Creative resources from Jess:

COPY from transcript

 

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CREDITS

Created and Hosted by Alexis Naylor

Music by Alexis Naylor & Ruby Miguel

Edited and Produced by Ruby Miguel

 Hello, my name is Alexis Naylor, and I am your host here at Through The Creative Door. On behalf of myself and my guests, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians on which this podcast is recorded and produced. May we pay our respects to all First Nations people and acknowledge elders past and present. On this podcast, I'll be chatting to an array of creative guests, getting a glimpse into their worlds and having some honest and inspiring conversations along the way. I am delighted to welcome you to Through the Creative Door.

 

Thank you so much, Jess, for coming through the Creative Door. This is a beautiful space. There's a lot of visuals happening. 

 

There's a lot of visuals happening. I mean, we could describe it with like really juicy words and let people like go into themselves and try to see what that looks like in their imagination. And then when they see it, they'll be like, oh my God, is it what I was thinking? It's better. Or it's like even more realistic and magical than I could have ever thought. 

 

How do you describe this space? 

 

This is called the Pink Palace. It's like an energy room. Like people will come in here, whether it's like the colored lights of pink or the colour of pink, that's everywhere.

 

That's really like, ah, like people feel like they're home or in a familiar space. Mm. So familiarity in a way. 

 

So you are such a talented bear, such an amazing photographer, but you specialise in, how would I say, like nude, all inclusive, gender inclusive, like glitter portraits, right? Like that's your like, sort of niche.Yeah. You obviously are like this amazing creator and makes these amazing worlds around it as well. 

 

So my, my creativity has brought me to this. Thing that I am mastering, and it is a niche of female identifying individuals that come in that feel like they need to move energy or celebrate or move through, move through something they're accepting, through having their body painted in glitter, specifically glitter.

 

And if anyone comes in with whatever they're dealing with, and as they are in their body, and as soon as I put this glitter on their body, their eyes light up and they're just like, who am I? What is this? I want this forever. And, and they be, they come back to themself, is the way they describe it. They forget about anything that's bothering them.

 

The things that that are going on in the outside world. They come into this. Pink sanctuary and go into play space and just come back to themselves. They say, this feels really familiar. And I'm like, how do I describe it? It sound sounds like what you're saying is like you are coming home to connecting with yourself.

 

It's fucking cool as shit and that's why it's privilege. Yeah, it's every time I do it, I'm just like, I know. Expanded with joy much more and. Yeah, I think when you know why you get up to do the creative thing. Mm-hmm. Then. It becomes juicier. 

 

So where in your creative space, what does a creative space mean to you and why?

 

Yeah. Okay. So, uh, a creative space to me is the word sanctuary. This is my four walls where no one can come and fuck with me. No one can tell me what to do. No one's opinion matters, but my own, this is. My safe space and I can tell you how it came to if you like, I'd 

 

love to hear it. 

 

Literally, this is the rebel teenage girl's bedroom.

 

Is it not? Oh my God. We've got like dolly partner of a shotgun fuck year on the wall, paint anything I fucking want on the walls. This is teenage rebel girl bedroom. I started my portraits in my bedroom when I was 19. People would pay me and I'd just like pin up a bit of fabric and they'd come in and I'd do it.

 

But also like my bedroom growing up was. The safe space where I would go to close the doors, feel my feelings in private, and then decide what to use that energy for. But I was gonna spend so much time being an emotional being in my room. Um, the walls reflected that. So the walls, I would paint it. So my teenage bedroom was eggplant with like hot pink walls and then punk rock stuff.

 

And then I would change the walls, would change my space, my place to express myself. Um. And my work's very emotionally driven, like it comes from that, like I am honoring the rebel teenage girl that didn't know how to express herself. So that's where that key comes into this. The reason this room is pink, because we moved from one street over and I was really comfortable in that space.

 

I was really like after COVID, like bringing up, ramping up the energy again, and then we had to, we had to move out being artists. The buildings we choose are like kind of derelict and they get closed down. So I had to come into this room and it's a bit smaller and I looked at it when it was white and a boring office.

 

I was like, how am I gonna do my creativity in here? Like, I was leveling up. This is shit, what the fuck? And I was angry and I was upset, and I was ready to leave. And you know, just like tears were had, you know? And I was like, fuck this, I'm a fucking paint it pink. Um, you can all go to hell. Not that anyone was telling me not to.

 

I was just like, I'm gonna paint it pink. And that was what made me feel better. Like my creativity is an extension of my feelings. So I was like, I just wanna paint it pink. No rules, no thought really. I impulse impulsivity. And then I also was like, I also just wanna cut a love heart in the door. So I cut a love heart in the door and covered it in fluff and put like the clouds on the roof, like I've had clouds in like my teenage bedroom and other studios.

 

And I just did it in like three days and realized that. That dark, pissed off energy that it had turned into your transmuted space of like freedom. So when people open the door and look through the love heart, it's like a love portal. This room is a space of love because that's actually who I am and owning that is reflective in the space of what I give and who I am.

 

How's that? 

 

Yeah, that's perfect. Yeah, but it's true. Like we spoke off mic about your little love heart portal through the door, and I think that's it. It's like when you are creating such a welcoming, inclusive space, others are gonna be super curious and wanna peep in, wanna see what's going on. Oh, I want them to 

 

peep 

 

in.

 

I don't wanna 

 

hide. 

 

It's just seamless that no one has to. I put the little. Privacy thing down so no one sees, you know, people getting their boobs out. Yeah, 

 

yeah, yeah. Well, you know, we've, we've gotta look after everyone. Yeah. But

 

so it sounds like you are just so proud of the whole curating of this life and world and space, but I'm curious within that. Mm-hmm. Is there a piece or a body of work that you are most proud of creating and how did that come about? 

 

Okay, so you're asking what's your favorite work from the past 25 years?

 

I mean, it's a hard one. Yes. 

 

But it's always gonna come back to somewhere, you know? Yeah. Um, when it comes to something I'm proud of, I would have to say my art book's called Deed. So I created an art book. Which was, uh, sort of like a magazine, um, a fine art magazine in 2013. And it was really hard to do, but it came from a spark.

 

It came from soul work, spark. So if anything in my body, my nervous system lights up when I create something. That's the real shit that is like this is put going you towards the reason you exist and nothing's gonna stop you, which is also my attitude. So I created this book to get off the internet, um, as a, as a 2D image maker.

 

Oh, just, you know, putting things on the internet. I'm existing, it's being consumed. What next? I was like, there's gonna be so much more to being an artist or being a photographer than that. I'm a fine art photographer. I'm fine art trained, so I know how to print a book. I know how to present an artwork. So I was like.

 

Ah, let's do something with this. And there's a, there's a little backstory how it came about. It's the number one question I get asked all the time. And that number one question is like, how did you start glittering people? Can I tell you about it? I'd love to hear about it. Okay, so this will lead to what, the reason I made the book, so is to kind of do like fashion photography, um, what would you call it?

 

Uh. The one-off pieces people would make couture, and this designer had made, like an amateur designer had made these heel list shoes in like 2012, as was the style at the time, Jeffrey Star of Hunger Games. And they were all right. They were pink literature, like, I know you like glitter, so maybe you could shoot these.

 

I'm like, how am I gonna make these better? Okay. Like they were just a bit tacky. Why don't I just Photoshop that pink into the girl's leg. I'll just cover her in glitter. No big deal. I use glitter every now and then. So my model was big TDI athlete, six foot. I laid her down, covered her in glitter, and then she like rose, she like stood up and I was like, oh my fucking God, what have I created?

 

This is insane. And I ran around the whole studio. I was like, come on, look at my goddess. Holy shit. Um. And that was the spark moment, right? And I knew this was really special. I knew what I created. I'd never seen it before and it was mine. I wanted to present it to the world, but I just didn't wanna put it on the internet to be consumed.

 

And I didn't want anyone to just see it and just copy me because I do inspire a lot of people. So. One of my assistants was like, if anyone could make a zine or a magazine, you could. Two weeks later, I called him back. I was like, oh my God, we're doing it. We're gonna do it on glitter. We're gonna put glitter on the cover, and this is how I'm gonna show everybody this thing I'd created.

 

So from this Spark thing that I created, I created an editorial exploring all the different versions of individuals I could glitter and how it made them feel, and I learned everything about it. Um, and then I put it in the book. I launched the book, we had a launch party and it was full of like it. It was just, it was one of those IT parties.

 

I was like, wasn't even present in my brain. I'm like, how is this happening? Like, who am I to the world right now? And had eight women all covered in glitter, like on podiums and no one had seen anything like that before. And so that book. When it was out, it kind of leveled up myself as an artist and in my career as someone that's capable of doing more and bringing people together, which I never thought about it at the time that I'm really a great facilitator.

 

And so I went on and presented three more books and they align exactly with like my mental health and my journey, what I'm capable of. Everything that I feel like that I've learned about. Everything that I'm probably about to talk to you about and since the last book came out, my career exploded, like literally exploded.

 

You are busy, your calendar's massively busy. It's fantastic. 

 

Yeah, so that is probably a, a pinpoint proud moment thing that I was able to do, even though it was a lot of hard lessons, a lot of really great life lessons. Um, it's eternal and people are still like, oh, I still have this book and it's. What year? In 2013? It came out 12 years. So interesting that you talk about that project having some challenges and some life lessons. Yeah. I'm curious, are some of those life lessons, would you say any of those, uh, challenged your creativity? 

 

I've had so many challenges. And even like just before you come in, I was like thinking about challenges.I was like, I've had so many challenges, but also I'm fucking successful as fuck. So they go hand in hand. If you don't overcome a challenge, how are you gonna grow to become the version you wanna be? So all the challenges I've had at the time, yes, they were harder. Now I'm like, oh baby girl, look how funny.

 

Look how far you come, you adult.

 

And owning that and like putting that older version of myself that's had the challenges next to me with love and Grace, I feel like my number one challenge has been as a creative person and as a person that offers my creativity as a service, as a gift, as an exchange, as an, as, an, as a, as an energy exchange is boundaries.

 

I have had my creative boundaries and my personal boundaries pushed by people, um, that just wanna receive and take your creativity. And the thing I've learned about myself is that I never realized that I'm not a giver. I'm a fixer, and I am a love field person, especially the love field. I've been denying that based on my own personal challenges that I, I love, love, I love giving.

 

I just never knew that. And so when I stepped into that, you know, I was able to understand why people want my shit. Okay. Whoa. So when I think of boundaries being pushed, it could be feeling objectified as a thing rather than a person, and that can come in tune with. Saying, uh, like your identity as an artist, your identity as a person, identity as a business.

 

So as Mad Dame, which is my artist's name, I, a lot of people didn't know my real name for a long time, and I kept it that way 'cause I was playing a role as this being, rather than letting myself be human and have downtime, I just would step into this. Character, this alter ego that could do anything. And so I felt, yeah, really resentful to people being like, but you are this thing that does this thing, so give it to me.

 

And especially, yeah. No, no. And especially when, um, the glitter took off like I wanted to give it to everybody, can everybody have it? But that ended up looking like me working. 12, 15 hours a day. I think I photographed like 12 hours straight a day and was really exhausted, but outta my head and didn't even know that I had the ability to stop.

 

And that it's almost like what you were saying before about um, wanting to give things now, now, now, now, now kind of, um. And so not having boundaries of like, this is when I can give service or this is where the creativity stops. Creativity is feminine energy that just leaks out if it doesn't have a boundary or a wolf or stop, like eating and drinking doesn't exist because energy, uh, creative energy is on another level, like out of here.

 

So yeah, I was outta my head for like a year just creating until I burnt out and like was really sick. Like I didn't know I was sick. How did you, like, did you essentially have to absolutely burn out. Totally. For you to then go, oh shit, hang on, this is not work. I gotta find a better way. 

 

Yep. Um, so I created the, the magazine and was working really hard on that and like, um, photographing 12 hours a day and then I did it twice with the second one.So we worked for six months straight on two books. And, um, so, so many more other projects in there. And I burnt out and my mom was like, you need to go and rest. Why don't you just go live in our holiday house and live off like the government and just take a break? And so I was like on zero energy with everybody that existed in my life.

 

And, um, people were taking and taking, and even though I was giving space for people to have their work put in a book for free, I was still like. Uh, people were still upset that I wasn't doing it the best for them, and I was like, whoa, what, what is going on? Um, and so I, I shut everything off. I, I might've even turned my, my Facebook off.

 

I mean, this is like 2013. This was a while ago. Um, I was really depressed. I was really sick. I was like seven kilos lighter and I didn't even know. And like there was a lot of, um, there was a documentary that came to one of the launches and I was saying stuff that's just like, what the fuck is she saying? Like, I wasn't even in my head. And they were just like, oh, okay. Yeah. Cool. So I was really mentally unwell and no one could see it unless they were around me all day long. If someone saw it for like a day or a minute, they would've been like, oh, she's really just eccentric and creative. Um, so I literally.

 

I felt like something needed to change in my body, in me. So I shut everything off, was worried everybody would forget about me, and I'm gonna tell you like, no, that doesn't exist. And I changed my, my diet and I actually probably leveled up in like spirituality completely by accident. So I'd stopped taking sugar and I thought, if this stops me from being depressed, I'm never gonna take sugar again.

 

And then as I changed my diet and was ready to come back to Melbourne, maybe six months later, I. I was a whole new person and I made my next book, and it was the best book. It was so focused, it was so intentional, and because I'd gone through such a dark phase, I made it about dark meets light. I. I still had to honor where I'd come from 'cause I didn't feel like that anymore.

 

All the dark things that I had like put together for this issue, I didn't feel it anymore. I was like, in this enlightened new phase, I was 29 or 28, sorry, I turned 28. So like that's an age where people like, woo, light up. Um, especially when you discover new things and new versions of yourself. So I honored it with the light side.

 

I let everybody come to the launch for free. I wasn't needing to receive anything from anybody. Everyone was amazing. Everyone was aligned where I was at. No one was trying to take anything from me, and people brought their creativity to the launch and were like, it was a liberated space. Yeah. 

 

It's such an interesting transition, but like it's so relatable. Oh great. 

 

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So relatable. 

 

Honour that dark side though. Honour where you come from. One thing that I have learned is like when you are feeling dark and like a piece of shit create, because you're gonna lose that and you're gonna feel really good again soon. And then you'd be like, why didn't I capture that energy when I had it?

 

Yeah. Yeah. And as a, I can only, I guess, put a lens of my own creativity over that. It's like you create a thing in that darkness. And then you share it in your light. Yeah. Like that's really a good way of saying it. You don't, you don't, you're not in it anymore. You visit it. Mm. But you, you can almost share it because you are not living it.

 

Yeah. Yeah. I think that's the best way. Yeah. Do you have an object or thing that you can't live without when you're creating? 

 

There are like one or two objects that I can tell you about, but when it comes to really thinking about when someone walks through the door and like the, the thing's gonna happen.

 

Things have to be done in a certain way. It's not OCD, it's grounding. You walked in and I told you to pick a card. Yeah, this is one thing that I take to all shoots because I get a whole range of individuals that come into my space and it's about curating energy. So, um, I think my Oracle goddess deck of cards is something that I take with me.

 

Anyone can pick it if someone comes in and they're quite overwhelmed and excited. So after they get into like the different spaces and energy, I want to. Hone in on getting them focused and getting, like understanding how they're where they're at. So I ask them to pick a card and even the way they pick the card or respond to it or pick it or, and what it is.

 

They'll resonate with it. So it kind of is like a grounding things like, remember why you are here now let's get a reflection as to why you are here. So you can remember that you haven't just walked in for like a good time. You've walked in for an intentional time, and sometimes they just go deep for some people.

 

And I love that because I can expand on it for them and then start to gauge in such a deeper way, which is my innate. You know, self, you know, the thing that I do, I'm very intuitive. I'm like, Ooh, this is why you are here. Now let's like get right into it. And like, and the card will sometimes even reflect the glitter color they have chosen or, um, oppose they end up doing, it's very like, woo, let's happening.

 

There's a bit of something extra in the air, I think. So, um, having a, a card to help guide. The session. Yeah. And a physical object like duh. A camera, but, but I have a old film lens from a 35 mil camera. It was my granddad. So you would've had it from like the seventies. It's the first lens that I've ever taken a portrait on.

 

Like 25 years ago, and I still use it. I put it on a digital camera, it has like a little adapter, and I put this old film lens onto a digital camera and it just captures the essence and the, the glitter so much better than a digital lens. 

 

Interesting. 

 

Yeah. I've compared it and I'm like. Wow. Like the first portrait is to take, have this like depth to it.

 

What's changed? I'm like, it's this old glass lens and yeah, it's very sentimental. Like it's fallen apart and like, I love it and I feel like such a unique, uh, photographer. And I guess the, the, the camera is a tool is also kind of like. A tool to put between me and you. I'm taking a portrait to help you feel at ease that there's something happening, rather than me just staring at you and telling you, you are cool and beautiful.

 

I feel like. I can I just just say like, being a photographer and having this really great lens and having this camera in front of my eye for 25 years, people don't realize that I'm just been staring at humans for 25 years, like staring into their eyes. That's sort of creepy, staring into their souls.

 

I've literally been staring into people for 25 years that I've learned how to read people. So that lens has helped me have this tool to connect. 

 

How beautiful. I love this. Mm. Well, speaking of people knowing exactly where they stand with you, I'm intrigued to know if you could give one nugget of gold to another creative, what would it be?

 

Uh, use your resources. Use the fuck out of them. Don't get stuck in any perfectionist way or that I need it to be like this. To be like this. Being creative is also a discovery, a work in progress. You need to make mistakes, you need to fuck up to discover something you didn't know you were looking for. I always have to say this to students, unlike any opportunity you have to use a resource like, um, like the studio or something at your school.

 

Use it. Even if you don't have an idea. Get in there and photograph anything. Use the lights, use the backdrop. Use yourself. Use your friends. It's not about the outcome at all. If you happen to create something, great, fuck yeah, but you need to practice. You need to fuck up. You need to do things outside of what you get taught, so then you can become a master of something new.

 

Okay. Note to yourself, Alexis. If someone wanted to develop their creative process, and this sort of goes off what you were saying about using your resources and, and just, you know, diving in, but if someone wanted to create, to develop their creative process and do what you do in any way, shape, or form, would you recommend any courses or resources, any books?

 

I thought about this and I was like, getting a mentor is like. Boss, but finding those mentors is hard. But in order to find a mentor, don't do any cold calling emails. I mean, give it a go. The best way, and I've seen it work, is go and knock on someone's door. Take a risk. Go to the party, get drunk, talk to the person.

 

I have literally given out so many jobs when I was in my twenties 'cause I was drunk at a party in my ego. Like, oh, I'm so important you can come work for me. Right. Um, and that was the advice that I got given in my fine art course, was like. Go to parties and talk to 'em. I'm like, fuck off. Like, gimme something I can use.

 

But it was true because networking baby. Yeah. So, so networking is a big deal, but do it with grace and like, I, I don't know, like intention instead of like trying to take something from someone. You'd be surprised at how many older, um, artists are in their phase of like, understanding to give, uh, give back to.

 

Young artists because we've been the young artist. Your mentoring works in a way to connect with an individual that you choose. School is like a blanket thing to like just get everybody covered. Doesn't know like one-on-one. I think people can actually receive more by having conversations, by being around people.

 

I've definitely seen people's lives change by, uh. Or like just take a different direction by connection, say connection to an individual that will give them time. For example, like a mentor. So I've had a few work experience kids back in the day come through and like seeing them thrive or even the reward as an individual that I get by having someone.

 

Take in things that I didn't know that they needed. So like we can be like shooting all day and they would've just learn heaps by doing, rather than me being like, blah, blah, blah, do it, do it, do this. They're just watching them and absorbing. I feel like there's a few, few artists in this building that are older, so older artists are probably ideal.

 

They've got some older ways of doing things. So it's more about creativity than about, oh, how do I exist on social media? Like I know how to exist on social media. I'm not that old, but there's, you know, life lessons in there about how to be a creative person in the world today. And what does that look like?

 

I think. Being able to have those conversations and that where that, where you can find that I guess, is yes, you'll have a great conversation at an art gallery, open with some dude with a wine glass, and then you'll know if that's the right conversation for you. Or you're like, oh my God, like stop talking to me about this thing I don't care about.

 

But if there's like some wacky artist that you're like. I wanna be that person. Guaranteed. They're probably just as scared of the world as you are. So don't, don't put anybody on a pedestal thinking that they're outside of your or, because we're all human. 

 

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can see myself giving that advice to myself right now.

 

It's like, oh my god, you know? This other female artist is so powerful. I'm like, yeah, but they still have these like insecurities and doubts in their body. They just know how to get through it. So don't underestimate or be intimidated to take a risk and knock on someone's door of somebody that has, uh, is where you wanna be at.

 

I really think it works, like I've been around for a while. And people are too scared to like step outta their comfort zone. So if you are too scared to step outta your comfort zone, how are you going to get out there to the big, bad world and express yourself in ways that most people probably will or will not like?

 

It's down to how you feel. Yeah. 

 

Well said. Well said. Yeah. Got one last question for you. If you could hear another human being on this podcast, maybe another creative or who knows, who would it be and why? 

 

This studio is full of street artists. In a city like Melbourne, where it's everywhere. Getting to talk to someone that can tell you the history and the meaning and the why and the subculture of it.

 

It gets horny. It gets juicy. Like I am ready to like co-collaborate on how to take that. Aspect into my world and my world into that world and to, and to see what it means, you know, and the reason why, and like the, the hidden rules about putting artwork on the street over other people's artwork. And there's rules, there's rules, there's street rules to, you know, um, so there's quite a few people in this building that.

 

Would share something I think other people have never heard about. Wow. Okay. I'm intrigued. Yeah. I mean, I don't know which individual would be the best one to point out, but I think Melbourne Street artist. 

 

Oh my goodness. Jess, thank you so much for this beautiful chat. It's been amazing. Thank you. No, thank you for coming into the Pink Palace.

 

Yay. Pink Palace Pink.

 

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