ABOUT

Isabelle Maschal O’Donnell (b. 1994) is a textile artist and baker who lives and works in Rockland, Maine. She received her BFA from Maine College of Art & Design, and has exhibited at venues including Able Baker Contemporary, BUOY Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA&D, UNE Ketchum Library Gallery, and the Center for Maine Contemporary Art. She has attended residencies at the Stephen Pace House, Hewnoaks Artist Colony and Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts.

Isabelle’s work combines painting techniques with textile processes such as quilt piecing, embroidery, and plant dyeing, and primarily uses repurposed, deadstock and scrap textiles. Her work draws influence from both painting and textile traditions, as well as nature and her environment, exploring ideas of familiarity, touch and memory as well as seasonal shifts and cycles of growth and loss. The color palette and compositions reference specific places and memories - summer dips in the ocean, feeling the sun on your body laying out at the beach, driving through rural roads in Maine and upstate New York, sunrises and sunsets, and flower petals crushed into the pavement of city sidewalks. These snapshots embody a deep sense of place that holds beauty and wonder as well as the memory of loved ones both present and lost.