M. Winston is an incarcerated artist within the Wisconsin Department of Corrections system, with one year remaining on his 30-year sentence. Winston has made drawings and paintings since he was a child in Mississippi. In recent years he began imagining, designing, and building miniature houses out of scrap materials he sourced in the prison.
Most of Winston’s paintings are small scale, no larger than 2 by 2.5 inches, to conform with institutional restrictions. He primarily paints images of places he dreams of visiting, finding a sense of freedom through his art practice. The paintings are abstract but allude to landscapes all over the world. In constructing his houses, Winston often repurposes his paintings to piece together the sides and roofs of the buildings. This fusing of structure, nature, sky, water, and atmosphere generates condensed, idealized renderings of life outside the prison. He looks forward to his release and continues to imagine the type of home he might someday own.
