Mar Figueroa

Mar Figueroa is an Ecuadorian painter whose work explores fluid transformations and the interconnections of spirit and the living world, creating intimate poetic landscapes where desire, connection, and care unfold. Her practice has been recognized with a Forbes 30 Under 30 distinction and the Hopper Prize, and supported by fellowships at MacDowell, MASS MoCA, Ucross, and the National Arts Club. She holds a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and is completing her MFA at the Yale School of Art, with an upcoming exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery.


Artist Statement

In my paintings, a subtle magic unfolds as figures appear alongside shadow selves, herbs, and insects, moving in quiet metamorphosis. Rooted in my upbringing among Andean Montubia women, I explore reciprocity between human and nonhuman forms through cycles of care, vulnerability, and transformation. Everyday interiors become stages for ritual, where herbal baths, egg cleansings, and lunar planting unfold as intimate acts of repair and attentiveness. Surreal tableaux gather figures and symbols shaped by Catholic iconography and folk traditions.

Delicate lines, as fine as an ant’s leg or a single strand of hair, delineate forms and structure narrative scenes with quiet precision. I layer figures and symbols according to inherited frameworks and rituals learned from my family, translating them into visual form and reimagining them for contemporary experience. Drawing from historical analysis, literary texts, and primary sources, I let these systems guide the scene while simultaneously questioning and transforming them. In doing so, these inherited rituals remain alive—carried forward through attention, care, and reinterpretation.


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