Maria de Los Angeles (b.1988) is a Mexican-born, American artist who addresses ideas of migration, belonging, and identity through her drawing, painting, printmaking, and wearable sculptures. She holds an MFA from Yale School of Art (2015), a BFA from Pratt Institute (2013), and an Associate Degree from Santa Rosa Junior College. In 2015, Maria was awarded the Blair Dickinson Memorial Prize by Yale University (2015) for her artwork and her role within her community. This 2023, she was awarded the William Aguilar Cultural Arts Award by the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education, Inc.
She has been an Artist in Residence at Anderson Ranch Arts Center, MASS MOCA, El Museo del Barrio, LACMA, Monira Foundation, and Schneider Museum of Art within Oregon Center for the Arts at Southern Oregon University. In 2023, she was recently at Ranch Arts Center as a Latinx Visiting Artist in residence. In 2024, she will be an artist in residence at the Sun Valley Museum of Art in anticipation a solo exhibition in 2025.
De Los Angeles has had solo shows at Schneider Museum of Art (2018 & 2019), the Museum of Sonoma County (2019), and Goggleworks (2022). Group exhibitions at the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center, LACMA, Self Help Graphics, and the San Diego Mesa College. Her artwork was recently on view in We the People: The Radical Notions of Democracy curated by Polly Nordstrand at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Public murals include Glen Ellen, California (2021), Sutter Santa Rosa Regional Hospital (2022), Santa Rosa Junior College (2023), Luther Burbank Center for the Arts and University of Oregon.
Her artwork is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Sonoma County, the Green Family Art Foundation, the Marcus Collection, San Diego Mesa College, Smith College, and the Jack Leissring Studio.
De Los Angeles was a visiting faculty at Pratt Institute, Fashion Institute of Technology, and Southern Oregon University. She is currently a Critic and Assistant Director of Graduate Studies for the Painting and Printmaking at the Yale School of Art. Her work has been featured in Hyperallergic, Artnet, New York Magazine, HelloGiggles, and The Observer.
Artist Statement
My studio practice includes drawing and painting with extensions into installation, performance, public, art, and community-centered projects. The main themes in my work are about exploring belonging and identity at the intersection of the personal and universal. My two-dimensional works convey social commentary, personal stories, and universal experiences using figurative elements and abstraction through drawing, painting, and collage.
I draw from my own experience and research to speak visually about identity and belonging in relation to migration. Symbolic color and my narratives range from lyrical lines to legible symbols and daily life-inspired moments.