MARISSA MOLINA
Marissa “Minhafofa” Molina is a New York based Latina Artist specializing in vibrant large-scale paintings, murals, and wearable sculptures. She earned her BA in Departmental Art Honors and World History from the University at Albany, SUNY in 2010 along with her MFA in Studio Art at The City College of New York, CUNY in 2014.
She has worked extensively in public arts, primarily serving the youth and community through educational programs and public mural opportunities. Some of her murals can be seen at museums and cultural centers like The Clemente and the Loisaida Center in Lower Manhattan and the Museum of Urban Art in Queens and Long Island. Her artwork can be found at Underhill Walls in Brooklyn, El Bohio Walls in Lower Manhattan, and the Grandscale Mural Project in Harlem. Marissa has live painted as a featured artist for the Homecoming Queens Concert and the Hip Hop 50 Summit. Her artwork has been featured in the Universal Hip Hop Museum, Stella McCartney’s fashion week showcase, Prime Video’s Premier event for the show Harlem, as well as been displayed in gallery shows throughout New York City. Currently, Marissa is the Mural Program Art Director for Thrive Collective and the Manager of Creative Cultural Operations at the Museum of Urban Arts.
Artist Statement
Fueled by a profound interest in people, my art lives in a garishly playful and vibrant world filled with personalities and the objects, environments, and energies that embody them. Growing up with a father who rose out of extreme poverty in El Salvador who came to work in various positions in the sanitation field; I have had an in-depth view of people's tumultuous relationship with possessions and status. People yearn for more yet consistently dispose of different parts of their lives, and all the while that journey through objects leaves us with a beautiful trail of history and insight.
I strive to create empowered, bold, and energetic portraits that illuminate the energy individuals possess while setting a general tone of positivity, brightness, and fun into the world. Hair is especially crucial in highlighting these features through a variety of stories and textures. Historically, hair holds so much depth and meaning. It is the physical manifestation of the passage of time, it reflects mood and health, and holds the freedom for style and color and ultimately self expression. It is also often something attacked and repressed in society. My work celebrates the beauty and variety of texture and literally wearing our interests, thoughts, feelings and true essence at the forefront.
