McDonnel draws with paint, using handmade brushes and implements to create an image that looks both atmospheric and earthlike at the same time. This piece, brimming with multiple layers, appears to be dense but blusterous. The painterly gestures, sensual and organic, come forward and pull back, compelling the viewer to wonder what kind of environment they may have encountered.

McDonnell’s approach to her work finds her in “conversation” with the piece she is working on. “For me,” she says, “it’s not one point of entry, but lots of back and forth before I decide on a painting’s orientation.” If she’s begun a painting but hasn’t found her way, McDonnell says, “We’re not talking together yet.”

Mary McDonnell is known for her highly personal abstract paintings, which vividly capture her sensory experiences of the natural world. Living in the densely wooded, rural area of upstate New York, McDonnell has developed a keen sensitivity to nature and the material it provides, often using sticks, straw and other custom, found, tools as her “brushes”, each imbuing its distinct impact on her imagery.

McDonnell’s paintings are characterized by dynamic brushwork, embodying the physicality of her movements around each canvas. Often working on the floor, each painting or work on paper is constructed through a network of bold, energetic strokes, accumulated gestures, and painterly lines sometimes densely interwoven, at other times loosely arranged. These strokes form the underlying structure of her compositions, highlighting her commitment to nature and her evolving interpretation of it as a realm where earth takes precedence over space. Each object, evolving through a contemplative, meditative process, results in deceptively simple yet profoundly complex image.