Mark Jared Zufelt is a Seattle-based multidisciplinary artist whose work exists at the intersection of storytelling and the visual arts. Rooted in the tension between documentary and constructed narrative, Zufelt explores urban life as both a physical and psychological space—a collision of memory, identity, and desire. Influenced by artists such as Daido Moriyama, Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, and Francesca Woodman, his work negotiates presence and absence, attraction and discomfort, and the blurred boundaries between voyeurism and empathy.
Zufelt holds a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Washington and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Irvine. He is also an alumnus of the National High School Institute for Theatre Arts (NHSI) at Northwestern University and has pursued photography coursework at the Rhode Island School of Design. His formal education, paired with a deep passion for storytelling, informs his multidisciplinary approach, spanning photography, theatre, and poetry.
Over the course of his career, Zufelt has been recognized with numerous awards, including the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) New Generations Fellowship and the Allen Lee Hughes Fellowship in Theatre for Social Change. He is a two-time recipient of The Seattle Times Footlight Award for Best Mainstage and Best Fringe Production. Recently, he was selected for the Magnum Photos Long-Term Mentorship program with Alex Majoli and Gilles Peress.
Zufelt’s photography, described as “powerful and evocative” by Shoutout SoCal, has been featured in publications such as Sports Illustrated, Mob Journal, Elléments Magazine, and City Arts Magazine. His work has been showcased in exhibitions including An Articulation of Dolls (Seattle Fringe Festival) and Animal Farm, Tim Rollins and K.O.S.: A History (Frye Art Museum and Next Stage Theatre). His ability to capture the unseen—ephemeral spaces, fleeting gestures, and lives often overlooked—imbues his work with narrative drama.
In addition to his photography, Zufelt’s career in theatre and education has significantly shaped his creative practice. He has directed and taught at institutions such as Seattle University, Cornish College of the Arts, and North Seattle College, and worked internationally as a Guest Director with the Philippine Educational Theatre Association in Manila. His multidisciplinary background influences his photography, which often evokes the psychological presence of performance, complicating the line between reality and fiction.
Whether collaborating with a model on location, crafting a poem in solitude, or working with a team to develop a play, Zufelt’s work is unified by a singular purpose: to tell compelling stories that challenge conventional ways of seeing and invite viewers into spaces of ambiguity and transformation.