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

Working across installation, biomaterials, microscopy, and public projects, she investigates contamination, remediation, and multispecies relations by translating complex chemical and biological processes into tangible forms. Her work engages ecosystems as both material and site, investigating cycles of degradation, adaptation, and emergence across soil, water, air, and living systems, often through collaborative and community-led research methodologies.

Projects such as Prospering Backyards mobilize community science to address lead contamination in Southeast Los Angeles, while ongoing experiments with microbes, minerals, and fermentation explore how living systems can become collaborators in ecological healing. Bridging laboratory and public space, García’s practice repositions art as an active agent in environmental justice—one that not only reveals invisible conditions, but participates in transforming them.

Maru García's work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions and conferences across North America, Europe, and Asia. Her ventures into public art include a large-scale digital piece for the California Natural Resources Agency and a proposal for a sculpture at the Puente Hills Landfill Park, commissioned by the Los Angeles Arts and Culture Department. She was an artist in residence at the National Center of Genetic Resources in Mexico and has been recognized with numerous awards, including the New York Foundation for the Arts ‘Anonymous Was a Woman Environmental Art Grant’, the California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Environmental Justice Grant, and the Getty Foundation Grant.

She was part of the Getty Research Institute’s 2019-2020 Scholar program, "Art and Ecology," and a 2021-2022 artist in residence at the 18th Street Arts Center. She has collaborated with Metabolic Studio since 2023 and is an Associate Research Scientist in Mineral Sciences at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. She holds an MFA in Design & Media Arts from UCLA, 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.

Trabajando en instalaciones, biomateriales, microscopía y proyectos públicos, investiga la contaminación, la remediación y las relaciones entre múltiples especies, traduciendo procesos químicos y biológicos complejos en formas tangibles. Su obra aborda los ecosistemas como materia y lugar, investigando los ciclos de degradación, adaptación y emergencia en el suelo, el agua, el aire y los sistemas vivos, a menudo mediante metodologías de investigación colaborativas y participativas.

Proyectos como «Prospering backyards» movilizan la ciencia ciudadana para abordar la contaminación por plomo en el sureste de Los Ángeles, mientras que experimentos en curso con microbios, minerales y fermentación exploran cómo los sistemas vivos pueden convertirse en colaboradores en la recuperación ecológica. Al tender puentes entre el laboratorio y el espacio público, la práctica de García reposiciona el arte como un agente activo en la justicia ambiental, que no solo revela condiciones invisibles, sino que participa en su transformación.

La obra de Maru García se ha exhibido en exposiciones individuales y colectivas, así como en conferencias en Norteamérica, Europa y Asia. Sus incursiones en el arte público incluyen una pieza digital a gran escala para la Agencia de Recursos Naturales de California y una propuesta escultórica para el Parque del Vertedero de Puente Hills, comisionada por el Departamento de Arte y Cultura de Los Ángeles. Fue artista residente en el Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos de México y ha recibido numerosos premios, entre ellos la Beca de Arte Ambiental "Anonymous Was a Woman" de la Fundación para las Artes de Nueva York, la Beca de Justicia Ambiental de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental de California (CalEPA) y la Beca de la Fundación Getty.

Participó en el programa de becas "Arte y Ecología" del Instituto de Investigación Getty (2019-2020) y fue artista residente en el Centro de Artes de 18th Street (2021-2022). Colabora con Metabolic Studio desde 2023 y es Científica Asociada de Investigación en Ciencias Minerales en el Museo de Historia Natural del Condado de Los Ángeles. Maru García es la fundadora de Prospering Backyards. Tiene una maestría en Diseño y Artes de Medios de la UCLA, una maestría en Biotecnología y una licenciatura en Química, ambas del Tecnológico de Monterrey, México. Actualmente reside en Los Ángeles, CA.

Photo credit: Yogan Muller

SELECTED MEDIA

The Year in Latinx Art. ARTnews. 2024

The busy person’s guide to PST ‘Art & Science Collide’ exhibitions

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

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

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

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

Cuando el desastre ambiental se convierte en tu hogar. Dos artistas latinas retratan la contaminación de Los Ángeles

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

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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 SCOBY Lamp Collection’ (Sep 2025), Plot Gallery, Los Angeles, California

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

TALKS, PANELS, & HAPPENINGS

  • “(re)Membering” Panel. Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) Long Beach, California.

  • “Community Science in Action” Panel (Sep 2025) California Land Recycling Conference, Carson, CA. 

  • “What Can Symbiotic Futures Look Like?” (Jan 2025). Online Panel. Women Eco Artists Dialog.

  • “Sinks: Places We Call Home” Panel (Dec 2024). The Luckman Gallery, Los Angeles, CA.

  • ‘Dirty Topic: Environmental Justice in L.A. Art’ (Nov 2022). Art for Earth’s Sake Panel. MOCA. Los Angeles, CA.

  • ‘Ecoaesthetics: from relationship to remediation’ Artist Talk (Jan 2023) Pepperdine Studio Arts

  • ‘Expert consultant Biodesign Challenge 2022’ (Apr 2022) Guest speaker. Universidad de Buenos Aires.

  • ‘Environmental Storytelling - Stories from the Field’ (Apr 2022) Panel. Virtual event. Public Lab.

  • “Pile 2 patio, mulch sculpture.” 18th Street Arts Center, Santa Monica, CA.

  • ‘Pb Lead in Los Angeles’ (Apr 2022) Talk and video screening. Benton Museum, Claremont, California.

  • ‘Culture 2’ Artist talk (Aug 2021) Virtual event. Culture-culture.

  • ‘Earth Day’ Artist talk (Apr 2021) Conversation with Assemblymember Anthony Rendon, Los Angeles, California.

  • ‘Coexistence, interdependence between species’ Panel (Apr 2021) Nature, Art & Habitat, Los Angeles, California.

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

  • ‘Ecoaesthetics: from relationship to remediation’ Artist Talk (Feb 2021) University of California Santa Barbara. ‘The rescue cookbook’ Panel (Aug 2020) ARS Electronica. Virtual event.

  • 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’ Invited artist (Dec 2019) Los Angeles Convention Center. Los Angeles, CA.

  • ‘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.”

WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES

  • “Biomaterials: SCOBY” Workshop (Feb, Mar 2026) University of California, Santa Barbara

  • ‘Sensorial SCOBY’ Workshop (Sep 2025), Plot Gallery, Los Angeles, California

  • “Materials Acts: Feed” Workshop (Dec 2024). Craft Contemporary. Los Angeles, CA.

  • ‘Hacer Tierra’ (Dec 2022)  Workshop. Society for Social Studies of Science Conference. Puebla, Mexico.

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

  • ‘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.

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

  • Instructor. Art-Sci Summer Institute (Summer 2019, Summer 2018) Art-Sci Center. California Nanosystems Institute. UCLA. Los Angeles, California

  • Teaching Assistant. Department of Design and Media Arts (2018- 2019) UCLA. Los Angeles, California

    • Special Topics in Design and Media Arts: Bio- and Nano-Technology + Design. Prof. Victoria Vesna.

    • Special Topics in Design and Media Arts: Visual Communication. Prof. Lars Muller.

    • Special Topics in Design and Media Arts: Land and Environment. Prof. Rebeca Méndez.

RESIDENCIES

COMMISSIONS

  • Descanso Gardens: Emerging Horizons Soil sculptures (2026)

  • Descanso Gardens: Boiling Rocks 1 Mosaic 3 (2025)

  • Self-Help Graphics: Boiling Rocks Series (2024-2025)

  • Self-Help Graphics: Prospering backyards. Lead remediation research project. (2022-2024)

  • Olderbrother: Fermented reality. Augmented reality app + installation (2023)

  • California Natural Resources Agency: Morphogenesis I. Video- data visualization. (2021)

  • Olderbrother: Shelter. Biomaterials sculpture (2021)

  • Olderbrother: Algae. Spirulina bioreactor- sculpture (2021)

  • Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery: Membrane tensions. Multimedia installation (2021)

  • Olderbrother: Compost-ables. Fungi ecosystems (2020) 

AWARDS

AFFILIATIONS AND  MEMBERSHIPS

 

MEDIA

ABOUT

REGENERATIVE PRACTICES

ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

MULTISPECIES RELATIONS

ECOSYSTEMS | BIODIVERSITY | BIODESIGN

ECO-ART | BIO-ART