Molly Gambardella is an interdisciplinary artist based in Connecticut exploring the interplay among social, political, and biological systems. Her practice often results in large-scale interactive works that create the conditions for collective experiences. She draws inspiration from organisms such as lichens, flowers and horseshoe crabs, which recurrently inform the narratives woven into her work.
In the studio, Molly repurposes small, discarded, or mass-produced items, challenging their intended purpose and conventional perceptions by reassessing the significance and impact of the mundane. Integrating elements like water, wind, light, time, and sound, her approach reflects the complex interplay between natural and artificial environments.
Molly exhibits and receives commissions internationally, and is featured in publications such as Sculpture, Forbes, and Suboart Magazine. Her work is in permanent collections at Maison Courvoisier in France, Yale University's Science Building in Connecticut, and in private collections across six different countries. In 2023, she was the artist in residence for The Ark Project at Yellowstone National Park. Her 2024 solo exhibition at the New England Botanic Garden combined over 2,000 living orchids with more than 60 sculptures made from upcycled plastic bags. Most recently Molly was honored with the 2024 Emerging Creative Award from the State of Connecticut, Office of the Arts. Looking ahead, the Boulder Colorado Office of Arts and Culture invited Molly to speak and exhibit a public installation created from upcycled plastic bags as part of the Experiments in Public Art program in addition to an invitation from Olbrich Botanical Garden to exhibit an installation inside their conservatory in 2025.
Molly earned a BFA from Paier College of Art in 2017 and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts in 2023. Working symbiotically with her studio practice, Molly is a professor, teaching studio courses at Capital Community College and the University of New Haven.
Molly Gambardella
info@mollygambardella.com
www.mollygambardella.com
Education
2023 MFA, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Montpellier, VT
2017 BFA, Summa Cum Laude, Paier College of Art, Hamden, CT
2012 Diploma, Educational Center for the Arts, New Haven, CT
Selected Publications
2024 Vermont College of Fine Arts, In Residence Magazine
2023 Suboart Magazine, Issue 14
2022 Sculpture Magazine, July/August Issue
2021 Create Magazine Issue 25, curated by Danielle Kyrsa
2020 Create Magazine Issue 21, curated by the Tax Collection
2019 3x3 International Magazine, 2019 Directory
2019 Creative Quarterly Journal No. 56
2018 DabArt, Click Bate Quarterly Art Journal, Ventura, CA
2018 3x3 International Magazine, Annual No.15
2018 Creative Quarterly Journal, No.50 & No.51
2017 Baycrest Foundation, Commemorative Catalogue
2017 Girl Talk Art Magazine
2017 3x3 International Magazine No.14
Selected Exhibitions
2025 (Upcoming) GLEAM, Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Madison, WI
2025 (Upcoming) Proboscis Paradise, Boulder Public Library, Boulder, CO
2025 (Upcoming) VOLTA Basel, CAMP Gallery, Basel Switzerland
2024 CAMP Gallery, "We Got the Power", Miami, FL
2024 Patterns In Bloom, New England Botanic Garden, Boylston, MA
2024 Atlantic Gallery, This is the Future of Non-Objective Art, New York, NY
2023 CAMP Gallery, Looking Through Cycles, Westport, CT
2023 Intersect Palm Springs, represented by bG Gallery, Palm Springs, CA
2023 Vermont College of Fine Arts, Thesis Exhibition, Montpelier, VT
2022 Art Market Hamptons, represented by bG Gallery, Nova's Ark Project Sculpture Park, NY
2022 MoCa Westport, "Women Pulling at the Threads of Social Discourse", Westport, CT
2022 SPRING/BREAK, "Naked Lunch", represented by CAMP Gallery, New York, NY
2022 Art Market San Francisco, represented by bG Gallery, San Francisco, CA
2021 CONTEXT Art Miami, represented by bG Gallery, Miami, FL
2021 New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill, Wild Hideaways, Boylston, MA
2021 bG Gallery, ART to WEAR, Santa Monica, CA
2020 Otra Feria Jóvenes Artistas Americanos I, represented by GalleryLabs, virtual
2020 I Like Your Work, Juried by Gallerist Bridgette Mayer, Congruence, virtual
2020 bG Gallery, Art is Love, Santa Monica, CA
2020 100 Best, Creative Quarterly, Brooklyn, NY
2020 Ely Center of Contemporary Art, Witchy, New Haven, CT
2019 SCOPE Miami Beach, represented by GalleryLabs, Miami Beach, FL
2019 Boston Art Gallery, Boston Art, Boston, MA
2019 CAW, Sanctuary Cities and the Politics of the American Dream, New Haven, CT
2019 Art Market: Hamptons, The Bridgehampton Museum, Bridgehampton, NY
2019 Lotta Studio, Mail Art Exhibition: Before After, New Haven CT
2018 "Nothing Rhymes with Orange", Lotta Studio, New Haven, CT
2018 The Brain Project, The Baycrest Foundation, Toronto Canada
2018 Kehler Liddell Gallery, "How with this Rage shall Beauty hold a Plea?", New Haven, CT
2018 Student Scholarship Exhibit, Society of Illustrators, New York, NY
2017 Kehler Liddell Gallery, "One Planet One Home", New Haven, CT
2017 Lumas Gallery, Yorkville, Toronto
2017 The Brain Project, The Baycrest Foundation, Toronto Canada
Teaching Experience
2023-Current, Adjunct Faculty, Capital Community College
2023-Current, Adjunct Faculty, University of New Haven
2019-2024, Adjunct Faculty, Paier College of Art
2016-2020, Assistant Visual Arts Teacher, Educational Center for the Arts
Residencies
2023, ARK Project, Artist Residency, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA
2019, The Wild, Artist Residency, Theano Point, Ontario, Canada
Professional Experience
2025, (Upcoming) Visiting Artist, Experiments in Public Art Series, Boulder, CO
2024, Visiting Artist and Critic, Vermont College of Fine Arts, Summer Residency, Colorado Springs, CO
Awards
2024 Emerging Creative Award, State of Connecticut Office of the Arts
2020 All She Makes directory, curated online directory for women creatives worldwide
2019 Creative Quarterly, 100 Best Annual
2018 Silver Medal, 3x3 International Magazine
2017 People's Choice Award in partnership with Lumas, The Brain Project
2016 Student Scholarship Competition, Society of Illustrators
Selected Commissions
2023 Lichen 51.5, 36 x 36 x 8 in, silk, cotton, wood, steel, Paris, France
2023 Lichen 23, 72 x 72 x 12 in, silk, cotton, wood, steel, Boston, MA
2021 Color Blind (5/5), 12 x 15 x 5 in, colored pencils, wood, Barcelona, Spain
2020 Lichen red 1, 60 x 60 x 8 in, silk, cotton, wood, epoxy, New Haven, CT, USA
2020 Color Blind (4/5), 12 x 15 x 5 in, colored pencils, wood, New Jersey, USA
2019 Lichen, 60 x 60 x 8 in, silk, cotton, wood, epoxy, New Haven, CT, USA
2019 Lichen, 60 x 60 x 8 in, silk, cotton, wood, epoxy, New Haven, CT, USA
2019 Color Blind (3/5), 12 x 15 x 5 in, colored pencils, wood, Mexico City, Mexico
2018 Lichens (green, pink and purple), 72 x 72 x 8 in (x3) Convene, 3-D sculptures, silk, cotton, wood, adhesive, Chicago, USA
2018 Acri, 17 × 22 × 3 in, colored pencils, fiberglass, silicone, Toronto, Canada
2018 Global Pathology Services 3-D sculpture, colored pencils, wood, Kingdom of Bahrain
2017 Vitale, 14 × 13 × 19 in, colored pencils, fiberglass, silicone, Toronto, Canada
2017 Color Blind (2/5), 12 x 15 x 5 inches, colored pencils, wood, Brussels, Belgium
2016 Color Blind (1/5), 12 x 15 x 5 inches, colored pencils, wood, Florida, USA
Selected Bibliography
Amanda Beland, WBUR, "Annual orchid show mixes living plants with sculptures of flowers made from plastic bags", February 2024
https://www.wbur.org/radioboston/2024/02/15/molly-gambardella-new-england-botanic-garden-orchid
Ana Bottary, "Trip on a Tankful: Tower Hill Botanic Garden's 'Wild Hideaways: Designed for Adventure' outdoor exhibit", July, 2021
https://spectrumnews1.com/ma/worcester/news/2021/07/02/trip-on-a-tankful-tower-hill-botanic-garden
Sarah Mills, "Colorful Multi-Textured Sculptures by Molly Gambardella", May, 2021
https://www.createmagazine.com/blog/molly-gambardella
Danielle Kyrsa, “Molly Gambardella”, The Jealous Curator, December, 2019
https://www.thejealouscurator.com/blog/2019/12/11/molly-gambardella/
Lucy Gellman, “Molly Gambardella Blooms into Fall” The Arts Paper, October, 2019
https://www.newhavenarts.org/arts-paper/articles/molly-gambardella-blooms-into-fall
Renata, "Color Blind: Colorful Pencil Sculpture By Molly Gambardella" Bored Panda, November 2018. https://www.boredpanda.com/pencil-sculpture-color-blind-molly-gambardella/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic