Molly Einstein is a multidisciplinary artist currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Working across multimedia drawing, oil painting, and print media, her practice explores observation, feminine lineage, and the ways the past continues to shape the present. Her quietly rendered images emphasize slow looking, restrained color, and a subtle tension between visibility and obscurity. She will graduate in May 2026 and be included in SAIC’s BFA exhibition.

Statement

My work aims to function as a mirror. Although it is rooted in my own experiences and imagery, I want viewers to project their own histories onto it. I often question the source of identity and how patterns repeat across generations. Much of my imagery is drawn from my family archive, particularly my grandmother’s photographs and poetry, which I frequently use as source material to explore how the past quietly shapes the present.

I primarily work through slow and careful rendering, which allows the emotional content to emerge in a similarly subtle way. I try to move away from making images that feel photographic or too close to life, aiming instead for something softer, restrained, and contemplative.

Color is also central to my practice. I’m drawn to muted palettes, especially Venetian red paired with subtle greys. These colors only fully reveal themselves next to one another, which helps keep the work quiet and low contrast. I’m interested in the intimacy of observation itself, and in creating images that unfold slowly but never fully resolve. When some parts remain obscured or unfinished there becomes a quiet tension between what can be seen and what remains withheld.