b. 1998, New York, NY
Lives and works in New Haven, CT
Cruz’s work explores themes related to world building and folklore, visual and cultural history as well as identity. Her practice traverses a range of mediums, encompassing sculpture, painting, and video. Her distinctive visual language emerges through the manipulation of digital imagery, a process that involves altering photographs and visual material from her own expansive digital archive. Cruz frequently uses digital manipulation techniques to create her compositions before translating them onto canvas. This method allows her to engage with contemporary themes such as the proliferation of 'deepfakes,' social media's role in shaping self-image, and the commodification of the body. Her paintings provoke deeper reflections on the ways in which digital technologies are reshaping our understanding of self and society, often in a humorous way, further challenging and redefining traditional representations of Black womanhood.
Taína Cruz received an MFA from Yale’s painting department in 2025 and a BFA in sculpture & critical theory from Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), Baltimore in 2020. Relevant exhibitions include the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (2025); MMK Frankfurt (2025); Kraupa- Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin (2024); MoMA PS1, New York (2023); Kraupa-Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin (2023, solo); Studio Mondial, Berlin (2023); Martos Gallery, New York (2023); Kraupa- Tuskany Zeidler, Berlin (2023); Housing Gallery, New York (2022, solo); Embajada, San Juan (2022, solo); Housing Gallery, New York (2021); New Release Gallery, Online (2020); The Gormley Gallery, Baltimore, (2020).