Donnelly Marks is a New York City–based sculptor and photographer whose work explores the flow of consciousness through transience, imperfection, and material transformation. Guided by intuition and chance, Marks creates new visual narratives from found materials—crushed cardboard, concrete, and metal—allowing spontaneous connections to shape the creative process.

Marks earned a BFA in Sculpture and Fine Art Photography from Carnegie Mellon University and has lectured on photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Their work has been exhibited at the Annmarie Sculpture Garden & Arts Center (a Smithsonian Affiliate, MD); Westbeth Gallery; Prince Street Gallery; Queens College Art Center; Jamaica Arts Center; Montana Modern Fine Art; and Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, among others.

Featured in Canvas Rebel (2024) and Art Lives Here, Vol. 1 (2024), Marks continues to develop an evolving dialogue between matter, gesture, and perception from their Long Island City studio.

This exhibition celebrates the power of play — not as escape, but as liberation. The selected sculptures emerge from consistent, daily practice. Using materials at hand, these ephemeral constructions of plastic, cardboard, metal, and paint resist pretension, perfection, and preciousness. Each piece bears the imprint of the hand. Textures are rough-hewn, the scale intimate, the feeling expansive — even sacred. Through photography and altered perceptions of scale, the sculptures are transfigured: the small becomes monumental, abstraction crystallizes into metaphor, warrior-like figures arise, and casual constructions transform into symbols of power, survival, and strength.

“Give me scraps, scissors, and a bit of paint — throw in the spirit of play, and something magical happens. The spiritual emerges from the essence of play.”

– Donnelly Marks, 2025

To learn more about artist Donnelly Makrs, please click here.