(2024) Uprooted: Incomplete Family Portrait - Ghosts I, II, III, & IV and the Bleaching of Roots
             On going project



Using the metaphor of an uprooted tree as a ghost, I am exploring themes of migration and extraction, drawing parallels between nature, personal experiences, family narratives and history. Delving into historical roots, particularly the sixteenth century, I examine the coloniality of knowledge with its distinct Western function— possessing and dispossessing of land, the uprooting of beliefs and a tangible extraction of culture buried in the soil.

See  Project︎︎︎︎︎︎



(2024) Altar Mestizo I & II 
Stainless steel with UV Print and handmade paper
            


Reinterpreting the traditional European triptych to create an immigrant's altar, blending and multiplying South American spirituality. Venerating the ghost cast by the experience of immigration, where the sacred and the displaced coexist. The altar serves as a refuge and an affirmation of beliefs.



(2024) América
Short videos & Performances
Performative video sculptures, investigatigating Possession, Dispossession, Land, Culture, Identity and Bleach



(2024-) Cerrando las Venas
               On going project




Stitching 930 uncirculated Venezuelan banknotes from 2016 to 2020 with black thread. They are displayed cascading in resemblance to the Kerepakupai Vená. Some are painted with oil and held with a copper tube. Each bill represents a sanction.


(2022-) The Body Weight of Passports  - On going project
Concrete, Venezuelan passport.
215 x 102.5 x 65mm
Revealing and exploring the effects of the passport on the body thorugh scupture and performance. A passport is commonly known as a small booklet issued by a government to identify its holder as a citizen and facilitate international travel. However, its significance extends beyond mere documentation, and its impact can vary greatly depending on one's privilege.

See  Project︎︎︎︎︎︎



(2023) Portraits of Far Distant Relatives 
Steel, chain, cotton, earth, copper UV printing






On the extraction of culture from the ground - Uprooted Quimbaya. One of the most emblematic treasures from Colombia, in an ongoing repatriation debate. The history of these repatriation efforts go hand in hand with Colombian studies pushing for dismantling colonial thought and revising indigenous roots to construct national identity.

(2024) Huellas y Cenizas, (Fingerprints and Ashes)
Paper, ashes, wax, sediments, soft pastels, oil stick and acrylics 
Exploring primordial mark-making activated by the rhythmic sounds of Andean, Afro-Peruvian, and Amazonian music, mixed with Avant-garde jazz. Through the rhythmic repetition of my fingerprints and impulses, these works are part of an ongoing exploration of spiritual, meditative, and healing practices. They depict totems, ceremonial objects, rituals, souls, traces, and spiritual realities.



(2023) The Rock & The Cylinder
Found object, thread, concrete, discarded fabric, black oil stick and sediments.
450 x 360mm


Infographic sculpture, examining to what extend the imposed geometry of the urban landscape can reinforced systems of oppression. Acknowledging that space is not neutral and is imbued with historical context, I explored the subject of land division in the UK and our relationship with urban spaces in London.


(2023) Memory Behind Steel
Discarded wood, vinyl, acetate and paper print, mesh, concrete, threat and plaster.
595 x 430 mm

Series of artworks exploring how the imposed geometry of urban landscapes reinforces systems of oppression and disconnects us from nature. Embracing the concept of "unfinished" as a pathway to new narratives. Incompleteness serves as an invitation, not a limit. Conventional urban design often prioritizes isolated, polished spaces, stifling urban vitality and diversity.




(2023) Works on Paper
Paper, mesh, discarded threads, oil, soft pastels and handmade paper.
Dimensions: 600 x 900 mm


Correlation between two cosmos. Conducted through the lens of mestiza consciousness
(2023) La Concha y La Raíz (The Shell and the Root)
Installation & Performance
Collaboration with artist Ume Dahlia. Ongoing series of performances and installations exploring cultural narratives and trauma, employing a ceremonial release ritual characterized by healing practices and hidden memories.



(2023) Paisaje Migratorio (Migratory landscape)
On going project



Migration & Capital - Venezuelan banknotes, Oil and black thread.



(2023) Can I wear my Sculpture, Yes I can.
Self Portrait

Found objects from the construction site, aluminium, hoody, fabric with violent landscape in plaster and dust. Dimensions: 810 x 580mm




This self-portrait sculpture reflects personal and societal oppression, delving into how urban geometry and divisions reinforce such systems, impacting one's identity. It draws upon the theoretical framework of mestiza double consciousness* as articulated by Latin American writer and cultural theorist, Gloria Evangelina Anzaldúa, which refers to the experience of living between two or more cultural identities.


(2022) Construction Site PortraitsLandscapes
Found object board, paper, carton, plastic paper.
Dimensions: 594 x 841 mm.

Site-specific installation that emerged from a Psychogeography workshop at the RCA. The installation features two mixed-media compositions that visually interpret my psychogeographic encounter with Ryan and Felix, two construction workers from White City and Shoreditch.

See Project︎︎︎︎︎︎


(2023) CMP
Wood board, paper, canvas, thread, branches, oil stick, acrylic, spray paint and pencil.
Dimensions: 1040 x 675mm



Exploring through collage, the colonial matrix of power with its 4 areas of experience or domains that control and shape meaning, sensing, knowing, and believing. Each domain runs almost invisible for some and is validated and established at the expense of those that have been destituted in history. As a result, everything organic is suffering and dying within the confines of artificial organization. The disruption of the planet and its people is rationalized under the pretext of 'development,' leading to the deprivation of opportunities for sustainable economies and harmonious living. [1]

[1] Mignolo, Walter. The Politics of Decolonial Investigations. Duke University Press, 2021.
(2023) Untitled
Paper, canvas, discarded paper, acetate, acrylic, oil, soft pastels.
Dimensions: 297 x 420 mm

Investigating the relationship between different appearances through the lens of mestiza double consciousness in relation to the city of London. I came to delve into the complex interplay of identity, culture, and perception. Mestiza double consciousness refers to the experience of individuals who embody multiple cultural identities and navigate the tensions and contradictions that arise from these multiple perspectives.


(2022) GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues
Participatory research performance to confront - dissolve and transform. Inspired by psychodrama methods.

See Project︎︎︎︎︎︎
 

(2021) Wet Paper Smells After Two (2) Days
Documentation of experiment session with artist Tomas Eyzaguirre, taking place on the 8th of September 2021 at the White Rectangle [] in Berlin.

See Project︎︎︎

(2021) Concrete Upotias - Manifesting new realities
Concrete Utopias explores the intersections of diverse utopian scenarios and the materiality of those.



(2021) Die Hasen Stunde Nr.01 (The Hour of the Hare) 
Tomás Eyzaguirre, The Absence of Inhibition

Biannual publication with an experimental approach, featuring cross-disciplinary artists at the early stages of their careers. 

See Project︎︎︎︎︎︎


(2020) Good Point 
Good Point agency helps good people tell powerful stories. Concept & Creative direction for key visuals.




Maria Helena Toscano is an award winner designer with a contemporary art practice based in Berlin.