Maria Helena Toscano ◆
Maria Helena Toscano is a Venezuelan-Colombian multidisciplinary artist, researcher, and designer whose work emerges from the ecological, political, and migratory realities of Latin America. Moving between sound, performance, installation, sculpture, ritual, and mixed media, she explores extractivism, displacement, and cognitive justice through experimental, research-led processes. Her practice is shaped by the experience of being an ever-present immigrant navigating multiple geographies, and by a deep engagement with the tensions between urban landscapes, bodies, nature, and ancestral memory.
Guided by a methodology she calls BONDING, Toscano approaches materials as ecological, energetic, and molecular agents capable of transforming and transmitting memory. Color, echo, and rhythm operate in her work as living fields—spaces where personal and collective histories surface and reconfigure. Influenced by thinkers such as Gloria Anzaldúa, Walter Mignolo, and Davi Kopenawa, Toscano draws from decolonial and border thinking, mestiza consciousness, and Indigenous cosmologies to illuminate contemporary Latina experiences and open pathways to speculative futures.
Toscano holds an MA and Graduate Diploma in Fine Art from the Royal College of Art, and has undertaken specialized training in Modular Synthesis for Live Performance and Composition at the Berlin School of Sound. She has exhibited and performed internationally, including at Tate Modern, Ugly Duck, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, and across London and Berlin. She is also a two-time winner of the Latin American Design Awards.
CONTACT
︎︎︎ Email
︎︎︎ Instagram
Maria Helena Toscano
Lives and works in London and Berlin
Education
2025 Modular Synthesis for Live Performance and Composition, Berlin School of Sound, Berlin, DE
2024 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 Graduate Diploma in Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2012 MA Media and Audiovisual Production, Aalborg University Esbjerg & Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe DK, DE
2007 BA Communication Design, Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Caracas, VE
Exhibitions
2026 Soft Mechanics, FILET London, London, UK
2025 14th Art Auction, Weserhalle, Berlin, DE
2025 THE SIGNAL. THE NOISE, Greatorex Street, London, UK
2025 Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2025 Ambient Fields, The Goodroom, Berlin, DE
2025 OUTBOUND, Galeria Objects, London, UK
2024 ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Contemporary Art Practice MA Graduation Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Occult Surge, Moosey Gallery Hoxton, London, UK
2024 Traveling Memories, The Modern Showroom Shoreditch, London, UK
2024 William Blake and Conflict: Beyond Borders and Forms, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK
2024 The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2024 The CAPiverse: Towards Levitation, TATE Modern, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2024 Rites & Rituals, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
2023 Prophecy of Future Extinctions, CAP Space Gallery, RCA Battersea, London, UK
2023 ACROSS & OVER. Royal College of Art, HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf, London, UK
2023 Perspectives on Queer Hedonism, Club Silly, Brixton, London, UK
2023 Last Night Collective Vol 1: Quintesenti, W1 Curates Studios, London, UK
2023 Exhibition Poor.img. Royal College of Art, The MediaWorks, London, UK
2021 Co-Curation. Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Selected Performances
2025 Carbon Bonds & Fishing Spirits at the Crater, GeoPark, Nysiros, GR
2025 Activation at Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2024 Sound intervention at Murmurings of No-Man’s Land installation, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 Cacerolazo Aunar, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root II, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root I, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2022 The Body Weight of Passports, Site-specific, Brike Lane, London, UK
2021 GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Residencies & Reserach Programmes
2026 Upcoming - Listening Futures, The Listening Academy, Berlin, DE
2025 Speculative Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
Awards / Grants
2026 Supported by Venturenauten
2025 Supported by Venturenauten
2024 Eaton Trust Fund Grant
2023 Royal College of Art. Study Costs Bursary Scholarship
2022 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2019 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2018 Nominated in awwwards
Curatorial Projects & Artist Talks
2026 Upcoming - Regimes of Appearence: Still Becoming, Bomb Factory, London, UK
2024 Artist talk at ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Artist talk at The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2021 Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Publications
2026 Upcoming - Speculative Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
2023 Published in RCA X HSBC Across & Over Exhibition
2023 Published in Sampler 87 Royal College of Art
2023 Published in Posters can help, Slanted Publishers
2022 Sole Authorship: GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues
2021 Sole Authorship: Wet Paper Smells After Two (2) Days
2021 Co-authorship: Die Hasen Stunde Nr.01 (The Hour of the Hare)
2019 Published in Visual Harmony, Send Points publishing house
Featured
2019 Featured in Behance, Motion Served
2017 Featured in Idn World
Lives and works in London and Berlin
Education
2025 Modular Synthesis for Live Performance and Composition, Berlin School of Sound, Berlin, DE
2024 MA Contemporary Art Practice, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2023 Graduate Diploma in Fine Art, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2012 MA Media and Audiovisual Production, Aalborg University Esbjerg & Hochschule Ostwestfalen-Lippe DK, DE
2007 BA Communication Design, Instituto de Diseño de Caracas, Caracas, VE
Exhibitions
2026 Soft Mechanics, FILET London, London, UK
2025 14th Art Auction, Weserhalle, Berlin, DE
2025 THE SIGNAL. THE NOISE, Greatorex Street, London, UK
2025 Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2025 Ambient Fields, The Goodroom, Berlin, DE
2025 OUTBOUND, Galeria Objects, London, UK
2024 ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Contemporary Art Practice MA Graduation Show, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Occult Surge, Moosey Gallery Hoxton, London, UK
2024 Traveling Memories, The Modern Showroom Shoreditch, London, UK
2024 William Blake and Conflict: Beyond Borders and Forms, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK
2024 The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2024 The CAPiverse: Towards Levitation, TATE Modern, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2024 Rites & Rituals, Safehouse 1, Peckham, London, UK
2023 Prophecy of Future Extinctions, CAP Space Gallery, RCA Battersea, London, UK
2023 ACROSS & OVER. Royal College of Art, HSBC HQ, Canary Wharf, London, UK
2023 Perspectives on Queer Hedonism, Club Silly, Brixton, London, UK
2023 Last Night Collective Vol 1: Quintesenti, W1 Curates Studios, London, UK
2023 Exhibition Poor.img. Royal College of Art, The MediaWorks, London, UK
2021 Co-Curation. Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Selected Performances
2025 Carbon Bonds & Fishing Spirits at the Crater, GeoPark, Nysiros, GR
2025 Activation at Uprooted: Ghosts & the Bleaching of Roots, Ventana Project, U8 Gesundbrunnen, Berlin, DE
2024 Sound intervention at Murmurings of No-Man’s Land installation, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 Cacerolazo Aunar, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root II, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 The Shell & The Root I, Royal College of Art, London, UK
2024 Welcome to the UK, Ugly Duck, London, UK
2022 The Body Weight of Passports, Site-specific, Brike Lane, London, UK
2021 GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Residencies & Reserach Programmes
2026 Upcoming - Listening Futures, The Listening Academy, Berlin, DE
2025 Speculative Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
Awards / Grants
2026 Supported by Venturenauten
2025 Supported by Venturenauten
2024 Eaton Trust Fund Grant
2023 Royal College of Art. Study Costs Bursary Scholarship
2022 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2019 Winner in Latin American Design Awards
2018 Nominated in awwwards
Curatorial Projects & Artist Talks
2026 Upcoming - Regimes of Appearence: Still Becoming, Bomb Factory, London, UK
2024 Artist talk at ONE EXTENDED MEDITATION, Copeland Gallery, London, UK
2024 RIPPLES, Hypha studios, Sugar House Island, London, UK
2024 Artist talk at The Regenerative Power of War in the Arts, The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, UK
2021 Die Hasen Stunde, White Rectangle [] Berlin, DE
Publications
2026 Upcoming - Speculative Ecologies, LabVerde, Amazon, BR
2023 Published in RCA X HSBC Across & Over Exhibition
2023 Published in Sampler 87 Royal College of Art
2023 Published in Posters can help, Slanted Publishers
2022 Sole Authorship: GLASS Speaks in five (5) different tongues
2021 Sole Authorship: Wet Paper Smells After Two (2) Days
2021 Co-authorship: Die Hasen Stunde Nr.01 (The Hour of the Hare)
2019 Published in Visual Harmony, Send Points publishing house
Featured
2019 Featured in Behance, Motion Served
2017 Featured in Idn World