Mónica Figueroa

BIOGRAPHY

Mónica Figueroa (b. 1991, Mexico) explores existential questions and emotional landscapes through painting—investigating the meaning of life, human relationships, the fear of death, and anxiety in the face of the unknown. At the center of her work is a profound reflection on how women have been represented, imagined, and mythologized throughout time. Through drawing and painting, Figueroa constructs alternative realities—utopian, sensitive, and overtly anti-patriarchal—where hybrid figures emerge in communion with animals, organic materials, and natural forces. Her scenes, delicate yet intense, often blur the boundaries between body and earth, emotion and element, dream and ritual. In Figueroa’s universe, women and non-binary entities are not merely subjects, but agents of transformation—beings in transit who forge new systems of meaning and care.

Since 2017, Figueroa has lived and worked in Oaxaca City, Mexico. Her work has been exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in Mexico, Spain, the United States, Austria, Romania, and Slovenia. She has been a three-time recipient of the Jóvenes Creadores (Young Creators) grant from the System of Supports for Creation and Cultural Projects (SACPC), and has been selected in national painting competitions such as the 37th National Encounter of Young Art, the 1st “Ángel Zárraga” National Painting Prize, “Julio Castillo,” and “Fermín Revueltas.”

She has participated in residencies such as Déficit Pintura (Guadalajara), Cobertizo (Jilotepec, State of Mexico), La Ceiba Gráfica (Xalapa), and La Guerrera (Mexico City). She has published two drawing books: Éxodo de Ultramar (La Maquinucha Ediciones del IAGO, Oaxaca) and Espejo de piedra (SARA). Figueroa studied Visual Arts at ENAP (National School of Plastic Arts, now FAD) in Mexico City.