Press Release
Mrs. is pleased to present Molly Bounds’ first New York exhibition, a solo presentation of new works at The Armory Show, September 4–7, 2025.
Bounds’ paintings are intimate, psychologically charged portraits of friends and loved ones, often captured in moments of transition. Her subjects inhabit a liminal space between personal narrative and imagined projection, where hesitation, uncertainty, and quiet observation shape the mood as much as the physical surroundings. Working from life and memory, Bounds distills fleeting moments into painterly tableaux that feel both familiar and uncanny. Distant landscapes, domestic corners, sun-dappled backyards, or familiar tree-lined paths, become charged stages for contemplation, where gesture and gaze hold as much weight as setting.
Her work navigates a delicate boundary between fixation and expertise, portraying figures preceding transformative shifts or ritualistic preparation. Through bodily distortions reminiscent of catharsis, fleeting gestures, and moments of tense quietude, her paintings reflect the arduous journey and subtle triumphs of self-realization. With purposefully restrained color palettes of cold hues and striking highlights, Bounds’ works enhance notions of interiority, metamorphosis, and the passage of time, rendering images that are narratively cinematic yet lifelike in their absence of resolution.
In these works, doubt, serenity, and intimacy coexist in quiet equilibrium, offering a voyeuristic glimpse into the inner lives of her subjects, where preparation, contemplation, and personal ritual converge into a rich visual discourse.
Molly Bounds (b. 1990, Lewisville, Texas) earned her BFA in Printmaking from Metropolitan State University of Denver in 2014. She has participated in several residencies, including Redline Contemporary Art Center (2016–2018), Denver, CO and the John Michael Kohler Arts & Industry Residency (2022) in Kohler, WI. Her work has been exhibited widely in the United States and internationally, with recent exhibitions at Roberts Projects (Los Angeles, CA), Bozomag (Los Angeles, CA), Everyday Moonday Gallery (Seoul, KR), Sow & Tailor (Los Angeles, CA), WOAW Gallery (Hong Kong), Delgado Projects (Los Angeles, CA), and Part 2 Gallery (Oakland, CA). Her work has been featured in Juxtapoz, It’s Nice That, ArtMaze Magazine, KCRW, The Creative Independent, and Westword, among others. She currently lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
For additional information, please contact hello@mrsgallery.com.