PICTORIAL FOUNDATION | MAGDA MACIAS

MAGDA MACIAS

The Woodlands TX UNITED STATES

I examine how environments are changed by those who are excluded from acknowledgment, and how identity persists despite systemic invisibility.

Magda Macias is an interdisciplinary artist working at the intersection of art, science, and identity. Her practice combines oil, acrylic, printmaking, beeswax, resin, and pigment to examine color, structure, and transformation. Drawing upon photographic etching with solar plates and encaustic processes, she constructs layered surfaces that reflect themes of camouflage, disappearance, and shifting states of visibility.

Magda’s current work approaches art as a form of social practice, extending her material investigations into social interaction, data analysis, racial equity, and the capacity of creative processes to address and restore human stress. Her background in both art and technology informs an approach that connects material experimentation with systems of knowledge and lived experience. She holds an MFA in Art and Social Practice from Sam Houston State University, completed in 2024, and a BFA in Two-Dimensional Studio Art with a minor in Art History from the same institution. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education in Mexico.

ARTWORKS

The Illusion of Immigration (1/5) (Pentaptych) 2024

Magda Macias
etching, mixed media on encaustic board, 8H x 10W in (20.3H × 25.4W cm) $2,400.00 for the 5 panels (sold as a group)

I draw from immigrants’ stories of adapting and living in the United States, examining how identity and a sense of belonging are formed while contributing positively to society. My interest lies in giving voice to those who remain unheard, particularly undocumented immigrants who often camouflage themselves to blend into their communities and avoid the attention of authorities. In my work, I represent these individuals as ghost-like figures, reflecting their lack of legal permanence and the erasure of their rights despite their physical labor and presence. Using photographic etching with solar plates on encaustic, I explore the tension between transforming an environment through work and remaining invisible within it, questioning how people shape society while being denied recognition and belonging.

The Illusion of Immigration (2/5) (Pentaptych) 2024

Magda Macias
etching, mixed media on encaustic board, 8H x 10W in (20.3H × 25.4W cm) $2,400.00 for the 5 panels (sold as a group)

I draw from immigrants’ stories of adapting and living in the United States, examining how identity and a sense of belonging are formed while contributing positively to society. My interest lies in giving voice to those who remain unheard, particularly undocumented immigrants who often camouflage themselves to blend into their communities and avoid the attention of authorities. In my work, I represent these individuals as ghost-like figures, reflecting their lack of legal permanence and the erasure of their rights despite their physical labor and presence. Using photographic etching with solar plates on encaustic, I explore the tension between transforming an environment through work and remaining invisible within it, questioning how people shape society while being denied recognition and belonging.

The Illusion of Immigration (3/5) (Pentaptych) 2024

Magda Macias
etching, mixed media on encaustic board, 8H x 10W in (20.3H × 25.4W cm) $2,400.00 for the 5 panels (sold as a group)

I draw from immigrants’ stories of adapting and living in the United States, examining how identity and a sense of belonging are formed while contributing positively to society. My interest lies in giving voice to those who remain unheard, particularly undocumented immigrants who often camouflage themselves to blend into their communities and avoid the attention of authorities. In my work, I represent these individuals as ghost-like figures, reflecting their lack of legal permanence and the erasure of their rights despite their physical labor and presence. Using photographic etching with solar plates on encaustic, I explore the tension between transforming an environment through work and remaining invisible within it, questioning how people shape society while being denied recognition and belonging.

The Illusion of Immigration (4/5) (Pentaptych) 2024

Magda Macias
etching, mixed media on encaustic board, 8H x 10W in (20.3H × 25.4W cm) $2,400.00 for the 5 panels (sold as a group)

I draw from immigrants’ stories of adapting and living in the United States, examining how identity and a sense of belonging are formed while contributing positively to society. My interest lies in giving voice to those who remain unheard, particularly undocumented immigrants who often camouflage themselves to blend into their communities and avoid the attention of authorities. In my work, I represent these individuals as ghost-like figures, reflecting their lack of legal permanence and the erasure of their rights despite their physical labor and presence. Using photographic etching with solar plates on encaustic, I explore the tension between transforming an environment through work and remaining invisible within it, questioning how people shape society while being denied recognition and belonging.

The Illusion of Immigration (5/5) (Pentaptych) 2024

Magda Macias
etching, mixed media on encaustic board, 8H x 10W in (20.3H × 25.4W cm) $2,400.00 for the 5 panels (sold as a group)

I draw from immigrants’ stories of adapting and living in the United States, examining how identity and a sense of belonging are formed while contributing positively to society. My interest lies in giving voice to those who remain unheard, particularly undocumented immigrants who often camouflage themselves to blend into their communities and avoid the attention of authorities. In my work, I represent these individuals as ghost-like figures, reflecting their lack of legal permanence and the erasure of their rights despite their physical labor and presence. Using photographic etching with solar plates on encaustic, I explore the tension between transforming an environment through work and remaining invisible within it, questioning how people shape society while being denied recognition and belonging.

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MAGDA MACIAS

The Woodlands TX UNITED STATES

I examine how environments are changed by those who are excluded from acknowledgment, and how identity persists despite systemic invisibility.

ARTWORKS

EXHIBITIONS