Madonna Whore Complex - MWC - (she/her) is an artist, sex worker, Instagram baddie and proud Chihuahua mother based in Eora. Her work ranges from zines, to prints, collage and creative collaboration projects with friends and other artists, as well as the iconic pink “Madonna Whore Complex” stickers that she created. Madonna’s online presence is as much a part of her allure as well as the art she creates, which is why it was such a pleasure to get to know more about the allusive Madonna.
Firstly, to get a sense of your personality, for those that don’t know you, how would you describe yourself (death row meal, favourite cocktail and celebrity crush)?
I'm the Madonna and the whore, a hot MILF with no kids. Death row meal - oysters as a starter, some kind of delicious burrata salad and a steak tartare. Main course would be Garlic butter mud crab, I'm micro managing the cooking of the mud crab. Dessert, I don't really care too much about, I'll take a charcuterie board. Favourite cocktail would be an extra dirty vodka martini and they better not skimp with the olive to garnish. Celebrity crush - Dean Blunt but I’m trying to play it cool, so I will go with Erykah Badu and Snoop dog (not necessarily because of snoops’ music which I do fuck with but mostly because he is just so sexy and features in my dreams often).
I originally found you through your Madonna Whore Complex stickers, how did that originate?
I grew up in Byron Bay which is so beautiful but also so boring. I moved to Amsterdam with one of my best friends around 23 and I was searching for something and to figure out who I was and what kind of life path I wanted to take. Sex work was already well ingrained into my life but I wanted to know more about myself. Amsterdam's red-light district was super appealing. I would spend a lot of time riding my bike along the canals, smoking weed and looking at all the graffiti and street art. I really just wanted to have my own sticker to throw up. I already felt connected to the term "Madonna whore complex" so I began trying to design and print my own stickers. I remember being so frustrated because everything was in Dutch and I had no idea what I was doing but I got there in the end and the design remains the same 7 years later. That pink and blue is just so iconic. I love seeing Insta hotties with my sticker on the back of their phone. It’s the equivalent of horny guys getting you to write their name on your body lol.
Having taken on the term Madonna Whore Complex, how would you describe the complex and what it means in your work?
The Madonna Whore complex was coined by Sigmund Freud, I just made it pink and relatable. In Latin culture the virgin Mary is often referred to as Madonna, The Madonna whore complex is the inability to see the duality of women. It's struggling to Love and Lust in the same place, it's the idea that some women are mothers and wives and some women are depraved whores. I think that's why those little pink stickers popped so hard, having your sexuality weaponized against you is a universal experience for women. Freud spoke of the complex as if it was a burden for men and they are the victims. Grow up Freud.
You speak quite a bit about being a sex worker on Instagram, how does sex work influence your art?
I'm just so obsessed with being a sex worker, it never gets old for me. I really do wake up and think how lucky I am that in this life I experience something so unique and special and so influential. I can't imagine my life turning out any other way. I feel so deeply rooted in sex work because it’s been the majority of my teen and adult life, those formative years as a young adult, I spent in the back of adult stores and in brothels taking in all that good old-fashioned filth. Obsessed. The industry raised me and shaped me as a person so much, I think without the sex work the art might be very different or not at all.
Your collages have featured occasionally on Instagram and there’s some great photos in your zines online, do you plan to do more of these and what’s your process with making them?
There is never a real plan but I'm sure there will be more zines, I think maybe something over a longer period of time and a bit more retrospective. The collages are very therapeutic, they keep me out of a lot of trouble. Idle hands. Whatever I post online is only a small portion of each piece. They are massive, sometimes taking me months to finish and will drive me insane for weeks but it's addictive. It all starts off with a few porn collages and the next thing you know you're exploring capitalism and deals with the devil.
I’m a massive fan of your Instagram, particularly how open you are with both your work, and your life but I’m interested in what your relationship is like with Instagram?
I am pretty unhinged online. I can't help it, I'm an over-sharer and just want us all to be best friends (I’m a cancer). Instagram sucks but I can't stay mad for long, all my friends are there and free publicity.
Chico, your chihuahua, features heavily on your Instagram, he’s gained quite the following himself- can you tell us about him?
It's pretty hard to vouch for a chihuahua. Everyone has had personal beef with a small dog, but I will vouch for chico 100 percent. Chico is everyone’s token dog friend, his Instagram pops so hard and he doesn't even try. The story between Chico and I is a little bit complicated. It involves a client, a miscommunication, jail time and an ankle monitor. It truly deserves an article of its own.
What would you want more people to know about you both as an artist and a person, and do you have any big plans with your collages or zines for the future?
I want readers to know that I'm a size queen, a star and this is only the beginning for MWC.
