Monica's work is rooted in nature, exploring themes of uncertainty and adaptation. Born in California, her memories of home are shaped by a shifting landscape, and experiences of continually starting over have led to a practice which investigates cycles of change.
Style & Approach
Her interest in skies is about both transience and presence, as well as a wider concern for the environment. Trees, on the other hand, tell a story of steady resilience.
Monica paints in a range of media, and her sculptures are assembled from found, gifted and reclaimed material, including former paintings. Release is integral to her practice as she embraces endings as beginnings. Interested in the potential between renewal or collapse, she relies on disruption as a search for hope amid precarity.
Monica Perez Vega’s Early Career & Exhibitions
Originally from California, Monica Perez Vega an MFA in painting from the Slade School of Fine Art, London and a BFA from the California College of the Arts. She also completed the Turps Banana Correspondence Course 2021-22 and received a British Arts Council DYCP grant for her project, 'greening my practice' in 2023. This project led to a commission by Liquitex in 2024 to paint a mural at the Graphic Design Centre in London to promote their new line of bio-based acrylics. It also led to a solo show at Lauderdale House in London, 2025. She was shortlisted for the Exeter Contemporary Open Prize in 2024, and the Hari Art Prize, 2023. Most recently, she was commissioned by CUH Arts to create a bespoke series of work and installations for the NCCU re-design at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, England. She is co-director of the artist-led curatorial platform SMALL WORKS CIC and has co-curated several group exhibitions including Women's Day at Outhouse Gallery, London 2026, England is a Forest for Sluice Colchester, 2024, Bury My Songs at Terrace Gallery, London, 2024 and Weary Harold, ASC Gallery, London, 2022.
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