Malaika Ross (she/her) is a Caribbean American visual artist whose work explores the relationship between soil, plants and Black female identity. Drawing from her background in soil microbiology, she creates two-dimensional art inspired by microscopic life and the flora of Western Massachusetts.

Malaika earned her B.A. from Hampshire College, where she studied the impact of solar arrays on soil microbial activity. In 2019, she shifted from scientific research to visual storytelling, using drawing and painting to celebrate the beauty of soil microbes and botanical forms. Her expressive compositions highlight both native and introduced plant species.

Raised on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, Malaika’s bond with the natural world was shaped by her childhood—playing in the dirt, learning plant-based healing from women in her family, and exploring her grandmother’s kitchen garden. These experiences continue to guide her creative process today.

In 2023, following a breast cancer diagnosis, her practice expanded to include The Visibility Project and Novel Bodies, Novel Landscapes. These ongoing series center the Black female figure in real and imagined environments, offering reflections on healing, power, and transformation.

Curriculum Vitae

EDUCATION

  • B.A. Hampshire College, Div III thesis, The Impact of Solar Arrays on Soil Microbial Activity

  • Assets for Artists Alumn

  • New England Foundation For the Arts Five-Week Workshop, Making It Public for Massachusetts Artists

GRANTS

  • 2024, The Puffin Foundation grant for The Visibility Project.

  • 2023, ValleyCreates Project Evolution grant. A program of the Community Foundation of Western MA and MASS MoCA.

  • 2023, Mass Cultural Council grant for creative individuals.

  • 2022, ValleyCreates Capacity-Building grant. A program of the Community Foundation of Western MA and MASS MoCA.

EXHIBITIONS

  • 2025, Hera Gallery, Wakefield, RI. CARE group show.

  • 2025, UMass Science & Engineering Library, Amherst, MA. The Soil Beneath Us.

  • 2024, The Gallery at Hope & Feathers, Framing and Gallery, Northampton, MA. Novel Botanical.

  • 2024, Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, MA. The Visibility Project.

  • 2024, A.P.E. Split Level Gallery, 33 Hawley St, Northampton, MA. Shadow and Light: An Expression of the Cancer Experience group show (curator and exhibiting artist).

  • 2024, UMass Amherst Design Building Gallery, Amherst, MA. Y3K On Distant Keys group show.

  • 2023, MCLA Gallery 51, North Adams, MA. Reflecting Ecologies: Artists in Nature.

  • 2023, Geissler Gallery, Stoneleigh-Burnham School, Greenfield, MA. A Different Way to Experience Winter.

  • 2023, Peacock Room, Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity, Florence, MA. Contemporary Botanical Paintings, Winter.

  • 2022, ECA Gallery, Easthampton, MA. The Microbes That Saved My Life: A survey of drawings and paintings of soil microbes.

  • 2022, The Gallery at Hope & Feathers, Amherst, MA. Summer to Fall, a collection of 12 botanical paintings.

  • 2022, ECA/MAP Workspace at Eastworks Open Studio / Solo Exhibition, Easthampton, MA

  • 2021, You + Me Gallery, Group Exhibition: Urgent Unity, Unprecedented Healing: Reflections from COVID, Greenfield, MA

  • 2021, Creative People Leading Climate Action, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA (The Augusta Savage Gallery, the Arts Extension Service, and partners in Creative Women Leading Climate Action Virtual Symposium co-hosted Creative People Leading Climate Action, a juried digital visual art and multi-disciplinary exhibition.)

TEACHING

  • 2025, Workshop Instructor, Botanical Painting Using Pigments from Local Flowers and Plants, deTours Program, Cummington, MA.

  • 2025, Workshop Instructor, Expressive Botanical Painting, Snow Farm New England Craft Program, Williamsburg, MA.

  • 2025, Workshop Instructor, Seed Drawing Workshop, UMass Science & Engineering Library, Amherst, MA

  • 2025, Workshop Instructor, Botanical Workshop, The Care Center, Holyoke, MA.

  • 2024, Workshop Instructor, Art Workshop for Cancer Survivors and Caregivers, Greenfield Public Library, Greenfield, MA.

  • 2024, Workshop Facilitator, Shadow and Light Art Workshop for Cancer Survivors, Resilient Community Arts, Easthampton, MA.

  • 2022, Co-facilitator, Smith College New Student Orientation, Northampton, MA.

  • 2022, Workshop Instructor, Watercolor Your Way, Easthampton, MA.

  • 2022, Workshop Instructor, Drawing and Painting, Make-It Springfield, Springfield, MA.

  • 2022, Guest Artist Speaker, Summer Camp, Easthampton, MA.

  • 2022, Guest Artist Speaker, Art Teens, Shelburne Falls, MA.

 RESIDENCIES

  • 2025, Pollinator Coop Program, International.

  • 2022 Easthampton City Arts, MAP Space Artist Residency, Easthampton, MA

Contact

If you have questions about my artwork or would like to send me a general art related message you reach me via email at malaikaross.studio@gmail.com I’ll be in touch within 48 hours.