Soraya Marcano was born in Puerto Rico. She studied at the University of Puerto Rico and obtained a Bachelor degree in Fine Arts in 1988. In 1991, she moved to New York and in 1995, she received an MFA from Pratt Institute, with a major in Printmaking. Her mixed media work has been exhibited internationally at museums and galleries in Puerto Rico, Korea, Mexico, Panama, Canada, Dominican Republic, the United Kingdom, and France; and it is represented in numerous public and private collections.

Soraya Marcano has participated in artists in residence programs in New York, Dominican Republic, and Costa Rica and she is the recipient of several recognitions and awards, including National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts grants.

Soraya Marcano has been an educator for the Bronx Museum, El Museo del Barrio, the Guggenheim Museum, among other organizations and educational centers. She lives in Brooklyn.

By using hair, botanical material, sewing, and un-stretched fabric, my art work examines themes related to the body as a vehicle for the human condition in relationship to society, culture, and one to another. In addition, I also comment on the implications and connotations of using materials that are considered by the mainstream as “crafty,” “unauthentic,” and “low-art”; and are associated to specific gender, race, and culture labeling.
My current work touches upon issues of relocation and displacement; and provides a more layered exploration of the ambivalent nature of the post-colonial citizen. History has many layers and is captured by documenting the history of our families and surroundings. As in the Puerto Rican national experience, many members of post-colonial families are dispersed in different geographical areas. As we transplant ourselves to new places, we become more hybrid. In my work, I explore all these notions, to confront simplistic readings of race, culture, and national identity.

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