Born in San Vicente, El Salvador, in 1989.

Lives in Dolgellau, Wales, UK.

Bio

Mau Samayoa is a visual artist whose practice investigates memory structures through drawing, sculpted paper, photography, text and archival materials. Through processes of incision, accumulation and transcription, he transforms memories and fragments of information into visual systems that explore how experiences are encoded, transmitted and reconstructed over time.

Samayoa studied Fine Arts and Art Restoration at the Universidad Nacional de las Artes in Buenos Aires, Argentina. His work has been exhibited internationally throughout Europe, Latin America and the United States. It is included in the collections of Wolfson College, University of Oxford, the Pardon Collection and the Cleveland Clinic.

Statement

His work investigates memory structures: the material, visual and ritual systems through which experiences are encoded, transmitted, transformed and reconstructed over time. Through personal and collective histories, Samayoa explores how memory extends beyond individual recollection and becomes embedded in forms of notation, repetition, cultural practice and relationships to place.

Through processes of incision, accumulation and transcription, memories and fragments of information are translated into visual structures resembling bitmaps, scripts, instructions and mnemonic devices. These forms do not seek to represent memory directly; rather, they examine the mechanisms that organise, preserve, displace and reactivate memory.

Central to his practice is an understanding of memory as a dynamic process of continual reconstruction, shaped by migration, ritual, transmission and loss. Recent works expand this enquiry through vernacular and devotional forms, exploring how memory becomes embodied in material practices and sustained through repetition.

CV

Collections

— Wolfson College, University of Oxford, UK.
— Pardon Collection, USA.
— Cleveland Clinic, NY, USA.

Solo Exhibitions

2025 — to tie a knot [Carlos Violante], San Salvador, SV.
2021 — one by one to one million, Birmingham, UK.
2018 — Intimate Spaces, Birmingham, UK.

Group Exhibitions

2026 — Un pensamiento minúsculo, Centro Párraga, Murcia, ES.
2026 — Artificiales, Vienal 2.0, Santiago, CL.
2025 — At Hand, At Present: Collage and the Practice of Making Do, MACAA, Illinois, USA.
2025 — Aquí, otra vez: Origins Revisited, Santo Domingo, DR.
2025 — Passengers, London, UK.
2025 — Paper, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, UK.
2025 — Sensorial Fusion: Relationship Art & Architecture, NYLAAT, New York, USA.
2025 — Thresholds [Adam Wynn], Birmingham, UK.
2025 — Volver, San Salvador, SV.
2024 — Draw a Line. Erase a Line, Denver, CO, USA.
2024 — YES Group Exhibition, San Salvador, SV.
2023 — el blanco va de fondo [Sebastián Cobo], Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, ES.
2023 — Los Futuros del Lenguaje, Santo Domingo, DR.
2022 — Mutant Materialities, Wolverhampton, UK.
2021 — Ikon for Artists, Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK.
2019 — Something’s Brewing, Birmingham, UK.
2019 — La Piel Hacia Afuera, Buenos Aires, AR.
2016 — Lo Otro, Buenos Aires, AR.

Residencies

2026 — LEA, Laboratory of Experimental Art, Madrid, ES.
2023 — Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, ES.
2022 — Piramidón Centre d’Art Contemporani, Barcelona, ES.

Awards

2024 — Pardon Prize.

Art Fairs

2026 — PINTA, Lima, PE.
2025 — Art on Paper, New York, USA.
2024 — Art on Paper, New York, USA.
2024 — MECA, Santo Domingo, DR.

Publications

2026 — Joss Pinto, “La textura de la memoria. Archivo y borramiento en la obra de Mauricio Samayoa”, Revista Artishock. 

2024 — Featured artist, Revue Collé.

Education

2024–         — Estudios Independientes V, Chile.
2011–2016 — Visual Arts and Art Restoration & Cultural Heritage Conservation, Universidad Nacional de las Artes (UNA), Buenos Aires, AR.