biography
Molly Boonstra is a Michigan based interdisciplinary artist whose practice focuses upon memory, mending and salvage. She works in a variety of genres, from fine arts, merchandising and experiential design. Her projects are in corporate collections as well as national non profit organizations. She is currently developing a body of work that explores our tendencies to idealize the past.
artist statement
My work is imperfect, impermanent and incomplete. I stitch tattered bedsheets. I weave, unweave and reweave cloth scraps. I collect and can rotting fruit rinds. I pulverize porcelain. In my obsessive efforts to preserve the unpreservable, I seek to comfort myself.
My compulsive process –binding, stitching and knotting – grounds me to the present. I incorporate personal possessions, dead fruit and momento moris to harness the sentimentality of my materials, and bring them into the unfiltered present. My work is tactile. My hands manipulate keepsakes and heirlooms, both denying and acknowledging their preciousness and irreplaceability. In touching these cherished objects, I physically commune with the past in all its banality.
CV
EDUCATION
B.A, Studio Art, Calvin University, May 2015
B.A, Art Management, Calvin University, May 2015
EXHIBITIONS
2021, Two Panels, The Windsor, Oakbrook, IL
2019, Estoy Aqui, International Justice Mission, Washington, DC
2019, Untitled, The Winchester, Grand Rapids, MI
2018, Wisteria, Lions and Rabbits, Grand Rapids, MI
2015, Capsule, Calvin College Art Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2014, Amoldar, Basement Gallery, Grand Rapids, MI
2013, The Overlook, 106 Art Space, Grand Rapids, MI
COLLABORATIONS, COLLECTIONS, EMPLOYMENT
SELF EMPLOYED, STUDIO FREELANCE FABRICATOR
2015-Present, Grand Rapids, MI
conceptualization and implementation of large scale installations
KYNDA, CREATIVE PRODUCTIONS AND PROJECT MANAGER
2021 - 2023, Grand Rapids, MI
commissioned displays, branding, creative strategy and styling
MEIJER, DESIGN SPECIALIST
2021, Grand Rapids, MI
floor layout design and product placement
REVEL & STOCK, CREATIVE DIRECTION
2018 - 2022, Grand Rapids, MI
materials sourcing, commissioned project designs, experiential marketing
ANTHROPOLOGIE, DISPLAY COORDINATION
2014-2018, Grand Rapids, MI
conceptualization and display, construction and fabrication, national advising