Hello friends, colleagues, and community,
My name is Madeline Rae and my pronouns are she/her/hers.
I am a visual artist, writer, sex educator, and pleasure activist. I was born in Winnipeg, Canada. Winnipeg resides on Treaty 1 land.
I am currently living in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in Mi’ma’ki: the unceded and ancestral land of the Mi’maq peoples.
I am in the process of completing my Masters of Clinical Critical Social Work at Dalhousie University.
I am a white, ablebodied, queer cisgendered woman living with medicated mental illness. I grew up traumatically and non-consensually in the Christian Church, which has informed my career trajectory. I am passionate about offering inclusive, accessible, low-threshold sexual healthcare and trauma-informed, 2SLGBTQ*+ supportive therapy. I have worked in the field of sexual health for over half a decade, and my priviliged social location has afforded me the opportunity to pursue education and employment in this area.
My research investigates the intersections of kink, BDSM, and the therapeutic potentials of ritual and the performative space.
In my artistic work, I use a dichotomous combination of inorganic and organic materials, creating interactive sculptures to harness moments of intimacy between performers. Fluid has been a central tenent of my artistic research: humans excrete fluids across many types of vulnerable and intimate moments (Ex. sweat, tears, semen, breast milk, saliva, etcetera). As a performance artist, I focus on the ritualistic aspects of the performative space: performance art is not theatre, but instead real ritual happening in a space to be witnessed. What are the impacts of this reality? How are the performers and audience members impacted?
I plan to research the role of the polyvagal theory, emobodied trauma, kink, and physical therapeutic approaches in my academic and artistic research.
Post degree, my goal is to become a certified sex therapist and offer private practice sex-focused therapy along with low-threshold community care.
I approach my praxis through the lenses of anti-oppressive theory, intersectional and post-structural feminism, pleasure activism, harm reduction, radical acceptance, queer theory, and critical trans political theory. I am kink-positive, trauma-informed, pro-choice, and pro-decriminalization of sex work and drugs.
It is essential for me to practice constant critical self-reflexivity in my practice, and always continue learning from my peers, colleagues, and community members I serve.
For education, training, and experience, see CV
Please see CV for contact information