BIO
Molly Mansfield (b. 1988, Austin, TX) utilizes painting and ceramics to build narratives that examine tradition with the playful sensibilities of children. Her paintings centered around the tabletop, floral imagery, and pattern, explore themes of family, belonging, and memory. Her paintings have resonated with private collectors across the country and been featured in publications and brands such as, Create! magazine, Hgtv, and Anthropologie. Mansfield is represented by Art and Light Gallery, in Greenville, South Carolina.
STATEMENT
I like stories and I like to think about the objects in my paintings as keepers of story and memory. Quilts are a big influence in my work both symbolically and aesthetically. Quilts go on multiple journeys, from being made to being used and passed down, then making their way to me. Sometimes they are treasured as “something my grandmother made”, or sometimes they end up in a thrift store. Quilts are a very physical metaphor for women’s labor and as such serve as a link connecting ancestral women.
I’m obsessed with the hundreds of patterns and colors that can be found sometimes in a single quilt. I seek to imitate the flatness in my paintings layering patterns that are found in nature such as rocks, mountains, flowers, with fabric patterns next to each other causing foreground and background to meld together. The table, a space for sharing and caregiving is a stage for the objects in my paintings and is seen in multiple perspectives giving the work an abstract quality. I think of the unfolding of a space like deconstructing a milk carton and laying it out flat. The process of markmaking is play for me and I love the little moments in the work when an object starts to fall apart and is seen less as a piece of fruit or a rock and more as squiggly lines, blobs of color and paint.
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Solo Exhibitions
Frequented Dreams - Georgetown Art Center - Georgetown, TX - 2025
Frequented Dreams - Dougherty Arts Center - Austin, TX - 2025
Frequented Dreams - Women United Art Movement - 2024
Moth’s Wing - Warden Art Gallery - Austin, TX - 2022
Verdant - Austin Bouldering Project - Austin, TX - 2022
Water Lilies - Liza Pruitt - 2021
Two and Three Person Shows
Set The Table - Art and Light Gallery - Greenville, SC - 2025
At The Common Table - Liza Pruitt - 2022
The Kind That Everybody Knows - Commerce Gallery - Lockhart, TX - 2021
I Paint Flowers Now - Commerce Gallery - Lockhart, TX - 2021
Selected Group Exhibitions
Bird Song - McCrory Timmerman Galleries - Taylor, TX - Forthcoming
Bird Song - McCrory Timmerman Galleries - Taylor, TX - 2025
Red Dot Art Spree - Women and Their Work - Austin, TX - 2024
Bird Song - McCrory Timmerman Galleries - Taylor, TX - 2024
Belonging - Visionary Art Collective - 2023
Bird Song - McCrory Timmerman Galleries - Taylor, TX - 2023
Together: Conversations and Collaborations - La Mecha Contemporary - El Paso, TX - 2023
93rd Juried Exhibition - San Antonio Art League and Museum - San Antonio, TX - 2023
Bird Song - McCrory Timmerman Galleries - Taylor, TX - 2022
West Austin Studio Tour - Claire Brody Designs - Austin, TX - 2021
Annual Juried Exhibition - 120 Art Gallery - Taylor, TX - 2019
Due WEST - Big Medium - Austin, TX - 2019
West Austin Studio Tour - Blue Genie - Austin, TX - 2019
PILOT - PXP Contemporary - 2019
Emerging Artist Show - Anne Irwin Fine Art - Atlanta, GA - 2019
Due EAST - Big Medium - Austin, TX - 2019
East Austin Studio Tour - The Cathedral - Austin, TX - 2019
Holiday Exhibition - Blue Genie Art Bazaar - Austin, TX - 2019
LUSH - ATX Gals and Native Hostel - Austin, TX - 2018
Due EAST - Big Medium - Austin, TX - 2018
East Austin Studio Tour - ATX Gals - Austin, TX - 2018
Holiday Exhibition - Blue Genie Art Bazaar - Austin, TX - 2018
Minted Art Show - Minted and South Congress Hotel - Austin, TX - 2017
Pearls Before Swine - Pearls Art Gallery, Elgin, TX - 2016
Art Fairs
The Other Art Fair Dallas - Dallas, TX - 2021
The Other Art Fair Dallas - Virtual Editions Fair - 2021
Art City Austin - Austin Art Alliance - 2019
Publications
Women United Art Magazine, issue V - 2023
Create! Magazine, issue 38 - 2023
In Her Studio Magazine, summer issue - 2021
Awards
Birdsong, Best In Show - 2025
Women United ART PRIZE - 2023
Pearls Before Swine, Best In Show - 2016