Maria
Liebana
Media:
Mixed Media, Sculpture
Studio Location:
11-27 44th Road
Room/Studio#
Basesment Studio
Website:
Artist Bio:
Maria Yolanda Liebana is a first-generation Latinx artist who grew up in Paterson, New Jersey. She received her BFA from Pratt Institute and her MFA from Maine College of Art. Liebana’s work has been exhibited at institutions including the Fitchburg Art Museum, Bailey Contemporary Arts, Cambridge Art Association, and the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art. She has presented two solo exhibitions at Kravets Wehby Gallery in New York. An upcoming solo exhibition will be presented at Montclair State University.
Her work is included in prominent collections such as the Pizzuti Collection at the Columbus Museum of Art. Liebana is a recipient of the Queens Council on the Arts New Works Grant (2018, 2020). She has participated in residencies at Vermont Studio Center, Pickwick Independent Press, and Kates-Ferri Projects. In summer 2026, she will attend the Elizabeth Murray Artist Residency family residency.
Her work is held in private collections throughout the United States. She is represented by Kravets Wehby Gallery, New York.
Artist Statement:
My practice embraces a maximalist approach that combines collage, sculpture, and installation. Drawing from Catholic iconography, mythology, popular culture, and personal memory, I construct layered environments that explore devotion, desire, and the symbolic roles women occupy in cultural narratives.
Central to my work is the transformation of everyday materials and imagery into objects that feel both sacred and theatrical. I often incorporate mirrors, decorative surfaces, found objects, and fragments of visual culture to create immersive works that oscillate between humor, reverence, and critique.
As a Latinx artist, I am interested in how ritual, storytelling, and domestic spaces shape collective identity and cultural memory. Gardens, altars, and devotional displays frequently appear in my work as spaces where mythology, religion, and everyday life intersect.
Through lush and immersive compositions, my work invites viewers into environments that feel familiar yet heightened—spaces where beauty, excess, and symbolism reveal deeper narratives about gender, faith, and cultural inheritance.
