Biography  

Maria Claudia Hoyos Moncayo (Santiago de Cali, Colombia) 

Maria Claudia Hoyos Moncayo is a Colombian installation artist based in Montréal. She holds a Masters degree in Visual and Media Arts from the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM), completed in 2022, and a Bachelor’s degree in Art and Art Education from the same institution. Aside from her solo and collective exhibitions, Maria is a member of the Intervals collective, where she has facilitated participatory workshops on food-related issues under a decolonial lens. She has also given artist talks on her solo exhibition Memorias de Azúcar (2022). In 2023, Maria was a resident research-creation artist for Intersections, awarded by the Conseil des arts de Montréal, the OPTICA contemporary art center and UQAM’s École des arts visuels et médiatiques. Her work has appeared in media outlets such as Radio-Canada, Journal Métro, and Mutual Art Magazine.    

Maria’s practice is centered around the geopolitical history of sugar, a leading industry from the Cauca Valley, where her hometown of Santiago de Cali, Colombia is located. In Maria’s work, sugar is a material which symbolizes identity, Colombia’s history, and its colonial legacies of injustice, labour exploitation, and poverty. Her work has been showcased in the solo exhibition Memorias de Azúcar (‘Memories of Sugar’) at the UQAM Art Gallery in Montréal, Québec, 2022. Maria’s collective exhibitions include Tracing Labor Territories, curated by Mariza Rosales Argonza and Tamara Toledo (Sur Gallery, Toronto, 2024); Flux Acoustiques (Fondation LatinArte, Montréal, 2023); Lanuitnoire (UQAM Art Gallery, Montréal, 2020); Mi-lieu (Écomusée du Fier Monde, Montréal, 2018); and Passage à Découvert (UQAM Art Gallery, Montréal, 2015).