Maria Helena Toscano is a Venezuelan/Colombian artist and award-winner designer based between London and Berlin. As a South American immigrant, she challenges existing models and notions of identity, citizenship, borders, and belonging. Her work is influenced by the theoretical frameworks of Latin American authors such as Gloria Anzaldúa and Walter D. Mignolo, particularly in the realms of decolonial and border thinking, as well as Mestiza consciousness. Using various mediums such as video, performance, installation, sound, sculpture, text, and mixed media, her work examines the impact of extractivism, the uprooting of beliefs and knowledge, migration, and displacement. She highlights the interconnectedness of people and cultures, seeking to illuminate, understand, and dissect the contemporary Latina experience and its roots.
With a strong spiritual dimension, a significant aspect of her practice involves utilizing art as a healing mechanism. Her projects emphasize experimental processes that are activated and deeply influenced by her surroundings and the contrasts between city, nature, our bodies, and histories. She likes to start a project with discarded materials, relating them to a concept or idea, while also allowing intuition and emotion to guide the process. Her work often features materials chosen for their conceptual significance, such as banknotes, passports, tree roots, or ashes, embracing non-traditional elements where ongoing processes continue to shape them.
For new projects, ideas, and inquiries, please get in touch. mhtoscano@gmail.com For new projects, ideas, and inquiries, please get in touch. mhtoscano@gmail.com
Projekte mit einem sozialen Sinn und Zweck, sowie Themen wie Aktivismus, Kunst und Rebellion im 21. Jahrhundert interessieren sie in ihrer Arbeit besonders.
Projekte mit einem sozialen Sinn und Zweck, sowie Themen wie Aktivismus, Kunst und Rebellion im 21. Jahrhundert interessieren sie in ihrer Arbeit besonders.
Maria Helena Toscano
(b. 1987) Colombia
Lives and works in London and Berlin
Education
2024 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 Graduade Diploma in Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2012 MA Media and Audiovisual Production , Aalborg University Esbjerg & Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe DK, DE
2007 BA Communication Design, Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Caracas, VE
Exhibitions
2025 Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2025 Ambient Fields, The Goodroom, Berlin, DE
2025 OUTBOUND, Galeria Objects, London, UK
2024 ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Contemporary Art Practice MA Graduation Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Occult Surge, Moosey Gallery Hoxton, London, UK
2024 Traveling Memories, The Modern Showroom Shoreditch, London, UK
2024 William Blake and Conflict: Beyond Borders and Forms, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK
2024 The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2024 The CAPiverse: Towards Levitation, TATE Modern, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2024 Rites & Rituals, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
2023 Prophecy of Future Extinctions, CAP Space Gallery, RCA Battersea, London, UK
2023 ACROSS & OVER. Royal College of Art, HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf, London, UK
2023 Perspectives on Queer Hedonism, Club Silly, Brixton, London, UK
2023 Last Night Collective Vol 1: Quintesenti, W1 Curates Studios, London, UK
2023 Exhibition Poor.img. Royal College of Art, The MediaWorks, London, UK
2021 Co-Curation. Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Selected Performances
2025 Activation at Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2024 Sound intervention at Murmurings of No-Man’s Land installation, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 Cacerolazo Aunar, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root II, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root I, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2022 The Body Weight of Passports, Site-specific, Brike Lane, London, UK
2021 GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Residencies
2025 UPCOMING Speculatives Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
Publications
2023 Published in RCA X HSBC Across & Over Exhibition
2023 Published in Sampler 87 Royal College of Art
2023 Published in Posters can help, Slanted Publishers
2022 Sole Authorship: GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues
2021 Sole Authorship: Wet Paper Smells After Two (2) Days
2021 Co-authorship: Die Hasen Stunde Nr.01 (The Hour of the Hare)
2019 Published in Visual Harmony, Send Points publishing house
Awards
2024 Eaton Trust Fund Grant
2023 Royal College of Art. Study Costs Bursary Scholarship
2022 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2019 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2018 Nominated in awwwards
Featured
2019 Featured in Behance, Motion Served
2017 Featured in Idn World
Experience
2019- Iconic Consulting Ltd, Creative Partner, Creative Director & Concept Developer, London, UK
2019- ST. Oberholz Consulting GmbH, Brand Activist; Creative direction & Art Direction, Berlin, DE
2016 Scholz & Friends GmbH, Art Director; Motion graphics & Concept Developer, Berlin, DE
2015 BLITZEN GmbH, Art Director; Motion graphics & Audiovisual Production, Berlin, DE
2012 Iconic Consulting GmbH, Graphic Designer & Motion Graphics, Berlin, DE
(b. 1987) Colombia
Lives and works in London and Berlin
Education
2024 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 Graduade Diploma in Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2012 MA Media and Audiovisual Production , Aalborg University Esbjerg & Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe DK, DE
2007 BA Communication Design, Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Caracas, VE
Exhibitions
2025 Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2025 Ambient Fields, The Goodroom, Berlin, DE
2025 OUTBOUND, Galeria Objects, London, UK
2024 ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Contemporary Art Practice MA Graduation Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Occult Surge, Moosey Gallery Hoxton, London, UK
2024 Traveling Memories, The Modern Showroom Shoreditch, London, UK
2024 William Blake and Conflict: Beyond Borders and Forms, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK
2024 The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2024 The CAPiverse: Towards Levitation, TATE Modern, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2024 Rites & Rituals, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
2023 Prophecy of Future Extinctions, CAP Space Gallery, RCA Battersea, London, UK
2023 ACROSS & OVER. Royal College of Art, HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf, London, UK
2023 Perspectives on Queer Hedonism, Club Silly, Brixton, London, UK
2023 Last Night Collective Vol 1: Quintesenti, W1 Curates Studios, London, UK
2023 Exhibition Poor.img. Royal College of Art, The MediaWorks, London, UK
2021 Co-Curation. Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Selected Performances
2025 Activation at Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2024 Sound intervention at Murmurings of No-Man’s Land installation, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 Cacerolazo Aunar, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root II, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root I, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2022 The Body Weight of Passports, Site-specific, Brike Lane, London, UK
2021 GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Residencies
2025 UPCOMING Speculatives Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
Publications
2023 Published in RCA X HSBC Across & Over Exhibition
2023 Published in Sampler 87 Royal College of Art
2023 Published in Posters can help, Slanted Publishers
2022 Sole Authorship: GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues
2021 Sole Authorship: Wet Paper Smells After Two (2) Days
2021 Co-authorship: Die Hasen Stunde Nr.01 (The Hour of the Hare)
2019 Published in Visual Harmony, Send Points publishing house
Awards
2024 Eaton Trust Fund Grant
2023 Royal College of Art. Study Costs Bursary Scholarship
2022 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2019 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2018 Nominated in awwwards
Featured
2019 Featured in Behance, Motion Served
2017 Featured in Idn World
Experience
2019- Iconic Consulting Ltd, Creative Partner, Creative Director & Concept Developer, London, UK
2019- ST. Oberholz Consulting GmbH, Brand Activist; Creative direction & Art Direction, Berlin, DE
2016 Scholz & Friends GmbH, Art Director; Motion graphics & Concept Developer, Berlin, DE
2015 BLITZEN GmbH, Art Director; Motion graphics & Audiovisual Production, Berlin, DE
2012 Iconic Consulting GmbH, Graphic Designer & Motion Graphics, Berlin, DE