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Mariana Monteagudo is a Florida-based sculptor whose practice spans more than two decades of sustained exploration in figurative sculpture.

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Since the late 1990s, she has developed an ongoing body of work centered on the creation of doll-like figures, which she refers to as 'Muñecas'.

 

These are constructed from reclaimed and repurposed materials including plaster, ceramic, textiles, wood, and found elements. The works emerge through an intuitive and deeply personal process of accumulation, where materials are treated not as neutral components, but as carriers of memory, history, and transformation.

 

Monteagudo’s practice is informed by a deep connection to artistic and material traditions. Raised in an environment shaped by makers, ceramicists, and a culture of hands-on creation, she developed an early understanding of craft as both discipline and language.

 

This proximity to artistic production, within both family and cultural context, continues to inform her approach to material, process, and sculptural form.

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Monteagudo’s sculptures resist clear categorization. Situated between contemporary art, craft, and collectible design, her work emphasizes objecthood and physical presence over conceptual explanation.

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Each piece functions as a vessel through which themes of identity, migration, motherhood, and lived experience are expressed, often balancing the unsettling and the familiar in equal measure.

 

Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions across the United States, Europe, and Latin America, including Madrid, Miami, Chicago, Bogotá, Caracas, New York, and São Paulo.

 

Her sculptures are held in significant public and private collections, including the Museum of Latin American Art (MOLAA) and the Everson Museum of Art, as well as the Robert Loder Collection and the César Gaviria Trujillo Collection.

 

In 2020, her practice was the subject of Uncanny: The Dolls of Mariana Monteagudo, an Emmy Award–winning documentary broadcast on PBS, further consolidating her recognition within both artistic and cultural contexts.

 

Throughout her career, Monteagudo has maintained a consistent commitment to material transformation, elevating discarded elements into sculptural objects that carry emotional weight and enduring presence.