Portrait by Ana Sampaio Barros
ARTIST STATEMENT
I make works that question how invisible phenomena intra-act with bodies. Made from fiber, bio-materials, and found objects, they look like waves, space-time, portals, totems, organisms and organs.
I want to understand how information is held in materials and if I can read it with my fingers, collaborate with microorganisms to expand the already viscous boundaries of “me” and “mine”, and unearth the potential of one small gesture to code the shape of the future(s).
My work engages material, theoretical, and choreographic research practices, and spans such topics as theoretical quantum physics, epigenetics and DNA’s capacity to store and transmit memory, symbiotic evolutionary theory, and gendered labor and techno histories.
I work with fiber that I’ve salvaged from the collections of deceased individuals and abandoned factories, and incorporate found objects with historical or sentimental meaning. I grow bio-films using ancient fermentation processes, harvest and preserve them through performative gestures, and then employ them as patterns and backgrounds for my embroideries. With hyperbolic, exponential, and intuitive embroidery and crochet patterns, I’m learning the potential of one small gesture to code the shape of the future(s).
BIOGRAPHY
Monica C. LoCascio (b. 1984) is a transdisciplinary artist. Her works arrive as artifacts of her material and theoretical research on consciousness, microbiology, epigenetics, theoretical physics, and hierarchies of knowledge and power. LoCascio frequently uses heritage craft techniques to transform fermenting bio-materials, and salvaged fiber and industrial materials into sculptural works. She began her art-making practice at the age of 5 when she was taught to crochet and embroider by her grandfather's twin sister.
LoCascio brings a diverse perspective to her work. Raised internationally, she completed her undergraduate studies in New Media & Visual Arts at Emerson College, Boston, with honors. After a decade of working in cultural production and publishing in NYC, she earned a Master’s degree in Art & Science from the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria, also with honors.
LoCascio serves on the board of the Medicine & Media Arts Initiative at UCLA and is a member of SEADS. Her art has been featured at significant venues internationally such as the Museum of Natural History in Vienna, Science Gallery in London, Jodrell Bank Engagement Centre, and the ERES Stiftung in Munich. She currently resides and creates in Vienna, Austria.
PRESS
Why The New York Fashion Week Summit’s Debut Matters More than Any Runway, Loopmag.com Feb. 2026
X Frames Per Space, PARNASS Magazin, Dec. 2025
Monica C. LoCascio, MUNTHE Art Monday, Nov. 2025
I Am Harnessing the Chaos, SKUG, Nov. 2025
Quantum Untangled, Qbits and qart… The Naked Scientists, Oct. 2025
Der Pilz als Künstler: Wenn Myzel und Schwammerl zum Werkstoff für Kunstobjekte werden, Die Presse, 2025
Science Gallery London announces Quantum Untangled, London Post, June 2025
Cosmic Titans: Art, Science and the Quantum Universe at Lakeside Arts Leftlion, Feb 2025
Quantum Untangled: Unravelling the Physical Mysteries of the Universe through Art ROAR, Nov. 2025
SCOBY harvest art installation set to showcase Stroud’s textile heritage Gloucestershire Live, Sept. 2024
The Window and The Couch, Les Nouvoeaux Riches, June 2024
Gallery Weekend Berlin, Weltkunst.de, Apr. 2024
It’s a World Machine. Kepler, Kunst & Kosmische Körper, Art-in, Mar. 2023
House of Challenging Orders, Vienna Art Week eflux Agenda, Oct. 2022
It’s a World Machine, KUNSTFORUM International, Mar. 2022
Kosmische Kartoffeln, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Mar. 2022
WELTMASCHINE – im OK Linz, Museums Fernsehen, Mar. 2022
Weltmaschine / Schlossmuseum Linz, Creative Austria, Aug. 2021
Junge Künstler: Was soll denn das? Die Presse, Nov. 2018
(with) Nadine Weixler, Ehemalige Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Monica C. LoCascio, 2023