Mariana Noreña G 

 From Bogotá Colombia 
Based in Chicago, Il. USA













Mariana Noreña is a multidisciplinary artist from Bogotá, Colombia, currently based in Chicago, IL. Her work explores how humans relate to place through ecology, history, and mythology. Through a research-driven, site-responsive practice, she investigates the material memory of landscapes and natural phenomena, creating echoes between geological processes and daily life. Working with earth matter and locally sourced materials, she reveals intimate and collective stories that speak to the symbiotic relationship between humans and their environment.

Rooted in close observation and material exploration, her process intertwines formalist composition, embodied sensing, and direct engagement with the places she studies. Through sculptural installations, she creates subtle yet immersive experiences that examine how materials bear witness to a place’s layered histories and interconnected collective memory.




 Mariana holds dual bachelor's degrees in Design and Fine Arts, with an emphasis in Painting and Drawing, from La Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá, Colombia), for which she received a merit distinction for her thesis project, “You Were Here,” which explored the landscape of the body through alternative portraiture. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in Fiber and Material Studies from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Her work has been exhibited, published, and collected nationally and internationally. Mariana's latest solo exhibition was “Territorio Ceniza” in Murmuration (Chicago, USA). She has also exhibited “Instructions for a Walk” in Garage 04 (Karlsruhe, Germany) and “Reflections of Place” at UNAM (Chicago, USA).

She has also participated in group exhibitions in Colombia at venues including La Feria del Millón Art Fair, the Contemporary Museum of Art of Bogota, and SGR Gallery. In the United States, her work has been shown at the LeRoy Neiman Gallery at Columbia University (New York City), Krasl Art Center (St Joseph, Michigan), Co-prosperity, Gallery 1922, SAIC Galleries, RHAA, The Franklin, and Hyde Park Art Center (Chicago). Her work is in the collection of the Museo Bolivariano de Arte Contemporáneo. Mariana is a recipient of the 2025 Re/Match Artist Award and the 2025 International Sculpture Center Innovator Award, a 2026 Fellow at The Studios at MASS MoCA, a 2023 Fellow at Vermont Studio Center, and a 2022 Luminarts Cultural Foundation finalist.