Maru García is a Mexican, LA-based artist/chemist working across art + science + environment.

Her methodology combines laboratory and fieldwork tools from her background in plant chemistry and the pharmaceutical industry. Her use of media includes research, installations, performance, sculpture, and video, usually with the presence of organic matter to help understand the biological processes occurring in complex systems. Her areas of interest are biosystems, multispecies relations, and the capacity of living organisms (including humans) to act as remediators in contaminated sites. Her work highlights the importance of eco-aesthetics, in which relations are proposed as ways of building cultures of regeneration. At the same time, she questions the ways science and technology have influenced humans and more-than-humans within the natural world.

Maru has participated in conferences, solo and group exhibitions in North America, Europe, and Asia. She was an artist in residence in the National Center of Genetic Resources in Mexico and has received awards from the New York Foundation for the Arts ‘Anonymous Was a Woman Environmental Art Grant’, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Justice Grant, the California Arts Council, Los Angeles Sustainability Collaborative, Clifton Webb Scholarship for the Arts, and Fundación Jumex. She was a 2020- 2021 Sci-Art Ambassador for Supercollider and worked at the Getty Research Institute in the 2019-2020 Scholar program titled “Art and Ecology.” Maru was a 2021-2022 artist in residence at 18th Street Arts Center and is a fellow at Metabolic Studio 2023- 2024.

Currently, she is a Getty Foundation grant recipient for the exhibition “Sink: places we call home” with Self Help Graphics & Art, to be presented in the Pacific Standard Time Art x Science x LA in 2024. She is an Associate Research Scientist in Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She is the founder of Biomedia Studio and Prospering backyards.

Maru holds an MFA in Design & Media Arts from UCLA as well as an MS in Biotechnology and a BS in Chemistry both from Tecnológico de Monterrey, México.

Maru García es una artista/química mexicana que trabaja en la intersección de arte + ciencia + medio ambiente.

Su metodología incluye el uso de herramientas de laboratorio y de campo, debido a su formación en química de plantas y su experiencia en la industria farmaceutica. Su uso de medios incluye investigación, instalaciones, performance, escultura y video, usualmente junto con la presencia de algún tipo de materia orgánica, para ayudar a entender los procesos biológicos que ocurren en los sistemas complejos. Entre sus áreas de interés se hayan exploraciones en sistemas biológicos, relaciones multiespecie, y la capacidad de organismos vivos (incluyendo humanos) para actuar como remediadores en sitios contaminados. Su trabajo subraya la importancia de la Eco-estética, donde las relaciones y la comunidad son propuestas como el medio para construir una cultura de regeneración. Al mismo tiempo, cuestiona las formas en que la ciencia y la tecnología han influido en la relación de los seres humanos con el resto del mundo natural.

Maru ha participado en conferencias, exposiciones individuales y colectivas en América del Norte, Europa y Asia. Fue artista residente en el Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos de México y recibió premios del Consejo de las Artes de California, Los Ángeles Sustainability Collaborative, Clifton Webb Scholarship for the Arts y Fundación Jumex. Fue embajadora de Sci-Art 2020-2021 para Supercollider. Trabajó en el Getty Research Institute en el programa Scholar 2019-2020 titulado “Arte y Ecología” y fue artista residente de 2021-2022 en 18th Street Arts Center.

Actualmente, recibe una subvención de la Fundación Getty para la exposición "Sink: places we call home" con Self Help Graphics & Art, que se presentará en Pacific Standard Time Art x Science x LA en 2024. Es investigadora científica asociada en Ciencias Minerales en el Museo de Historia Natural del Condado de Los Ángeles. Maru es fundadora de Biomedia Studio y Prospering backyards.

Maru cuenta con una Maestría en Artes de Medios (MFA) de UCLA, una Maestría en Biotecnología y carrera en Ciencias Químicas, ambas por el Tecnológico de Monterrey. Reside en Los Angeles.

Photo credit: Yogan Muller

SELECTED MEDIA

PBS. How Prospering Backyards Unifies Art, Science & Community. ARTBOUND. 2023

A Conversation With L.A. Eco-Artist Maru Garcia. Bluedot Living Magazine. 2023

KCRW Interview. GREATER LA. 'Prospering Backyards brings ‘holistic’ approach to Exide cleanup'. 2023

LA Times. ‘California’s biggest environmental cleanup leaves lead contamination and frustration’. 2023

Interview with Maru Garcia. Public Realm Issue 2. Sacred Spaces. 2022

Cross-contamination. Maru Garcia, Max Liboiron, Emily Watlington. Art in America. 2022

Getty Grants Offer First Look at 2024 Pacific Standard Time: Indigenous Science, Environmental Racism, and More. Artnews 2021

Membrane tensions. Le Bioart à l’épreuve du confinement. Teva Flaman, Pierre-Luc Verville. Art et biotechnologie. Dans Ligeia 2021/2-3-4 (N° 189-191), pages 84 à 89

Drip Dry: Our Relationship with Water. Climate Issue. Artillery Magazine 2021

Hye Min Cho, Maru Garcia, and Maura Palacios Mejia. 2022. Morphogenesis I: Coast, Shrub, Forest. In Proceedings of the ACM SIGGRAPH ’22 Art Gallery, August 07-11, 2022, Vancouver, BC, Canada. ACM, New York, NY, USA.

CV

b 1982 Puebla, México

EDUCATION

Master in Fine Arts. Design and Media Arts (2019) University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). Thesis: ‘Eco-aesthetics: From relationship to remediation.’ Advisors: Rebeca Méndez, Victoria Vesna, Erkki Huhtamo

Leaders in Sustainability Certificate (2019). University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)

Master of Science. Biotechnology (2009). Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, México. Thesis: ‘Metabolic Phenotypes generated by changes in H+pyrophosphatase (AVP1) expression in Arabidopsis thaliana Ecotype Columbia’. Advisor: Rocío Diaz

Bachelor of Science. Chemistry (2005). Tecnológico de Monterrey, Monterrey, México. Thesis: ‘Extraction of flavonoids present in the mandarin Citrus reticulata peel.’ Advisor: Elsa Guajardo

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

‘Morphogenesis I: coast, shrub, forest’. California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA).

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

‘Membrane tensions’ (Mar 2021). Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California

‘The Culture’ (Sep 2019). Galeria Dual. Guadalajara, Mexico.

‘Vivarium’ (May 2018). Art-Sci Center, California Nanosystems Institute. Los Angeles, California.

‘Vivarium’ (May 2018). Broad Art Center, UCLA, Los Angeles, California.

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

Sinks: Places we call home. PST Art x Science Collide. (Sep 2024). Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

Material Acts: Experimentation in Architecture and Design. PST Art x Science Collide. (Sep 2024). Craft Contemporary, Los Angeles, California.

Soil Dialogues (Apr 2024). Il Conventino. Florence, Italy.

Seeing the Unseen: Science and Art (Aug 2023). Wignall Museum. California.

Feeding the Unseen: Remediations of Earth (June 2023). Hansell Gallery. Los Angeles, California.

Blue hour (Oct 2022). Alta Sea. San Pedro. California.

SIGGRAPH Art gallery (Aug 2022). Vancouver. Canada.

WEAD Juried exhibition (May 2022). Bioneers 2022 Conference, San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts. California.

‘Atmospheres Deep’ (May 2021) San Luis Obispo Museum of Art, San Luis Obispo, California.

‘Projecting possibilities’ (Feb 2021) Helms Design Center, Los Angeles, California.

‘Compost-ables’ (Oct 2020). Olderbrother, Los Angeles, California.

‘Eco consciousness’ virtual exhibition (Sep 2020). Ecoartspace, Santa Fe, New Mexico.

‘Telluric Vibrations’ (Sep 2020). Art-Sci Center. ARS Electronica Festival.

‘Phytopia’ Virtual Exhibition (Aug 2020). Science Gallery Bengaluru, India.

‘Phenomenology of Hope’ Virtual Exhibition (Aug 2020). Supercollider Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

‘Artificial Ecologies’ Virtual Exhibition (Jul 2020). Supercollider Gallery, Los Angeles, California.

‘Artificial Ecologies’ Virtual Exhibition (May 2020). Culture Hub, Los Angeles, California.

‘Re-Fest’ Virtual Exhibition (May 2020). Culture Hub, Los Angeles, California.

Technosphere ‘Spring Break’ Art Show (Feb 2020). Skylight ROW DTLA, Los Angeles, California.

‘Beyond embodiment’ (Jan 2020). Brand Library & Art Center. Glendale, California.

‘Bio-cultures’ (Nov 2019). The Nook Gallery, Beacon Arts Building. Los Angeles, California.

‘Atenea’ (Oct 2019). Las Naves. Valencia, Spain.

‘An unreal unity’ (May 2019). New Wight Gallery. Broad Art Center, Los Angeles, California.

‘Convolution’ (Oct 2019). New Wight Gallery. Broad Art Center, Los Angeles, California.

‘Vibrant Matter’ (July 2018). The Nook Gallery. Los Angeles, California.

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

Curated ‘Radical propagations’ (2022). 18TH Street Art Center. Santa Monica, California

Co-curated ‘The emergent’ (Sep 2020). Supercollider Gallery. Los Angeles, California

Co-curated ‘Bio-cultures’ Group Exhibition (Nov 2019). The Nook Gallery. Los Angeles, California.

Co-curated ‘No time to waste’ for ‘Touch the future is here’ Exhibition (Aug 2019). Fab-Gallery, Los Angeles, California

Co-curated ‘Art + Environment’ Exhibition (Dec 2018). Counterforce Lab. UCLA, Los Angeles, California

TALKS AND WORKSHOPS

‘Playing with SCOBY’ Workshop (Mar 2021). Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California

‘Membrane tensions’ Artist Talk (Mar 2021). Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, Los Angeles, California

‘Ecoaesthetics: from relationship to remediation’ Guest lecturer (Feb 2021). University of California Santa Barbara.

‘Biomaterials: working with kombucha’ Guest lecturer (Feb 2021). University of California Los Angeles

‘The art of becoming animal’ Guest lecturer (Nov 2020). Occidental College. Los Angeles, California

‘The rescue cookbook’ Panel (Aug 2020). ARS Electronica. Virtual event.

‘Biomaterials’ Workshop instructor (Summer 2020). Atenea Mentors Program, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain

Conference Alliance of Women in Media Arts and Sciences (AWMAS). (Feb 2020). University of California Santa Barbara. Artist talk: ‘Ecoaesthetics: from relationship to remediation’

‘National Brownfields Conference 2019’ Invited artist (Dec 2019). Los Angeles Convention Center. Los Angeles, California.

‘Taboo, Transgression, and Transcendence in Science and Technology’ (Nov 2018). International Conference, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City

Artist talk: “Becoming-with the other”: Expanding the spectrum of relationships through art and science. Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) (Nov 2018)

Art-Sci Center, California Nanosystems Institute. UCLA, Los Angeles, California. Artist talk: “The culture”. Leonardo Art Science Evening Rendezvous (LASER) (May 2018)

Art-Sci Center, California Nanosystems Institute. Los Angeles, California. Artist talk: “Vivarium place of life”

RESIDENCIES

18th Street Art Center, Santa Monica (2022)

Pando Populus, Monrovia CA (2021)

‘The Sustainable Artist Handbook’ Assembly leader. Navel. Los Angeles, CA (Jan 2020)

CNRG. National Center of Genetic Resources, Mexico (2015)

AWARDS

Fellowship Metabolic Studio (2023- 2024)

Anonymous Was A Woman (AWAW) Environmental Art Grant- New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) (2022)

Fellowship THE OFFICE performing arts + film (2022)

Emerging Artist. Individual Artist Fellowships (INA), California Arts Council (2021)

Grant, Pacific Standard Time Art x Science x LA, Getty Foundation (2021)