Li Ma

I was born in a small town in Southern China where I used to enjoy getting lost in my imagination in all kinds of traditional gardens. I moved to Shanghai to pursue an Engineering degree, where I found the most pleasing  Chinese gardens were disappearing gradually when entire city blocks were demolished and rebuilt in an imitation western style.  In the rush for consumption, a part of what is essentially Chinese was lost.

My work is a diorama of an imaginative world where landscape and cityscape blend into each other in an atmosphere of balance and harmony. The pictorial structure and cheerful colors borrow from Buddhism, Taoism, traditional Chinese paintings and Asian architecture. The setting is based on the traditional Chinese garden which provides a panoramic view of space, a sense of timelessness, and uncovers the hidden relationship between human and cosmos.

CV

Li Ma (Mary Ma)

Born 1982, Fuzhou, China

Live, work in San Francisco, USA

EDUCATION

2013 MFA Candidate, San Francisco Art Institute

2005 BS Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Dong Hua University

SELECTED EXHIBITIONS

2012 The Transcendent, Diego Rivera Gallery, San Francisco, CA  

          Flying Fish, ARC Gallery, San Francisco, CA  

          Backlash, SOHO20 CHELSEA GALLERY, New York, NY  

          From Mice to Monsters, 440 Gallery, Brooklyn, NY  

          Melancholic Serenity, Roll Up Gallery/PUBLIC WORKS, San Francisco, CA  

          Through That Which Is Seen, Root Division, San Francisco, CA  

          MOMENTUM National Juried Exhibition, Gallery 825, Los Angeles, CA  

          Works on Paper, Pacific Art League, Palo Alto, CA  

          Crappy Birthday, Swell Gallery, San Francisco, CA  

          Chinese Laundry, Third Street Studios, San Francisco, CA  

          Tales of the City, CELLspace Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2011 The Cowboys & Indians, CELLspace Gallery, San Francisco, CA

2010 “SNAP TO POINT” AIGA Juried exhibition, Gallery del Grotto, San Francisco, CA

AWARD

2012 ArtSlant 3rd Round Sculptue Showcase Winner  

          ArtSlant 4rd Round Installation Showcase Winner

PUBLICATIONS/PRESS

2012 Dave Bown Project 4th Semiannual Competition Top 25   

          ART ENTHUSIAST, "'Through That Which Is Seen' at Root Division"  

          "Spotlight Emerging Artist: LI MA", Lauren Smith, 2 Op Collective  

          "Dig Up the Diorama! Art of the Miniature at Root Division", Jeremiah Barber, KQEDArts  

          MFA Now: Archive, Root Division, San Francisco, CA  

          Momentum, Exhibition Catalog, Los Angeles, CA

2011 Illustration for "Amber Alert Solved", etc Magazine, San Francisco CA

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

2011 Illustrator, Presence Learning, San Francisco, CA

2010 Art Desk Intern, Salon.com, San Francisco, CA