Sandra Monterosso
For over two decades, Sandra Monterroso has been investigating and immersing herself into the Maya Q’eqchi’ ancestry to produce a body of work exploring the dynamics of indigenous culture in the postcolonial era, gender issues, and other constructs of power. Her use of ancient Mesoamerican materials, such as Achote (annatto) and Indigo, make reference to the materials with which the Mayans worked to dye baskets, leather, and feathers and to paint murals and pottery. As Monterroso explains, “Behind the silence and the paradox of modernity and coloniality, I start taking as a symbolic reference more particularly the Mayan q’eq’chi’ language as an inheritance from my grandmother, whose linguistic structure is completely metaphorical.” The conceptual currents within her oeuvre carry through across media including tapestry, painting, video, installation, and performance. Art historian Isabella Villanueva notes, "Monterroso was born in the middle of an exceptionally sinister civil war that ravaged Guatemala and devastated the Central American country’s indigenous Maya communities. The artist is part of the postwar generation that took control of discourses of both social commitment and art production.”
Monterroso began her career in performance art in 1999. She earned a B.A. in graphic design in Guatemala in 2001, followed by a M.A. in Design from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado in Puebla, Mexico. In 2020, Monterroso earned a PhD in Art Practice from the Academy of Arts, Vienna, Austria. She has represented Guatemala in more than twelve biennials, including the 56th Venice Bienale, the 12th Havana Biennial, and the Frestas Art Triennial in Brazil. Today, Monterroso lives and works in Guatemala City. Her work is included in the permanent collections of Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain; Yes Contemporary, Miami, FL; Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MADC), Costa Rica; Essex Collection of Latin American Art, London, UK; Fundación Ortiz Gurdián, Managua, Nicaragua; Paiz Foundation, Guatemala; and many private collections.
