Maribel Portela

Maribel Portela (b. 1960) lives and works in Mexico City. Trained at the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas at UNAM, she has, over more than four decades and more than forty solo exhibitions, developed a sculptural practice grounded in close observation of natural form and rigorous material inquiry.

Working across ceramic, bronze, wood, paper, and PVC, Portela draws from marine and botanical morphologies, coral formations, seeds, and vegetal growth, reconfiguring them through processes of accumulation, repetition, and structural assembly. Her works move between compact, weight-bearing forms and more permeable, modular constructions, and her larger suspended paper pieces activate space through air, gravity, and shadow, creating a distinct sense of atmospheric volume.

Across her practice, nature is transformed into sculptural systems shaped by material knowledge and sustained, meticulous making, balancing organic reference with formal discipline and architectural presence.

Portela is a member of Mexico’s Sistema Nacional de Creadores de Arte and has served as guest professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing. Her work is held in public collections including the Museum of International Ceramic Arts (Denmark), the National Museum of Mexican Art (Chicago), and the Racine Art Museum (USA).

Selected institutions
Ex Teresa Arte Actual, Mexico City
Museo Nacional de San Carlos, Mexico City
Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City
Museo de Arte Moderno, Mexico City
Museo de Arte Carrillo Gil, Mexico City
Centro México Madrid, Madrid