Donyel Ivy-Royal

Donyel Ivy-Royal cultivates a fluid visual language, moving between abstraction and figuration across painting, photography, sound, drawing, and installation. His practice is deeply rooted in process, repetition, and ritual, often beginning with quotidian photographic scenes that serve as points of departure for his layered compositions.

Drawing from a background in graffiti, Ivy-Royal approaches painting as an additive and subtractive endeavor, building depth through accumulation while allowing earlier gestures to remain visible. This sensibility extends to his material choices, frequently incorporating found and unconventional surfaces like cardboard and salvaged signs.

Sound is an integral component of Ivy-Royal’s creative process; studio recordings act as a starting point, their essence woven into the construction of his paintings. This translation metabolizes and reconfigures images, inviting viewers into a liminal space where memory, perception, and lived experience converge.