Surviving Weight is an exploration of quiet endurance of what it means to keep floating when everything inside feels heavy. These sculptural paintings live in the fragile space between numbness and persistence, where even stillness becomes an act of survival and flow. As captured in the lyrics of Em Beihold’s song “numb little bug”, this series visualizes the paradox of not wanting to die, yet feeling too tired to fully live.

Central to this endurance is the symbolism of the Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon). Much like the spirit that "hangs by a thread," the Mugunghwa is defined by its ability to survive the cold and the dark, only to blossom again with quiet, stubborn strength. In these pieces, the heavy, sculptural layers of clay and acrylic represent the "depths" of the psyche, while the presence of the flower acts as a witness to the act of staying. The presence of the Mugunghwa (Rose of Sharon) in these compositions represents my personal lifeline. While the "weight" of my immediate surroundings pulls me down, my constant travel to Korea has been the force that keeps me afloat. 

1. Enduring Blossom: 5 x 5in Sculptural acrylic on wood panel
2. Resilient Mugunghwa: 5 x 5in Sculptural acrylic on wood panel
3. Wave off Thoughts: 5 x 5in Sculptural acrylic on wood panel
4. Numb Afloat: 8 x 8in Sculptural acrylic and clay on wood canvas panel
5. Sinking Imbalance: 8 x 10in Sculptural acrylic and clay on wood canvas panel.

These watercolor works are created through travel, movement, and sustained observation, capturing cities as emotional landscapes shaped by people, architecture, and the quiet language of emotions, time and clothing. Drawn on location while moving between places, the work reflects how arriving, leaving, and passing through heightens awareness, how space is felt differently when one is not fully rooted.

A watercolor painting created for Weave Hotel in Seoul, this work offers a painted interpretation of the hotel’s facade and surrounding environment through direct observation and urban sketching. Rather than depicting the building as architecture alone, the painting reflects Weave as a transitional space, a temporary home that holds people during moments of change. Short-term living spaces like Weave function as emotional stepping stones, often inhabited by foreigners, travelers, and individuals navigating relocation, uncertainty, and the search for long-term stability or belonging.

She’s Made of Routes and Reveries
Selected as a finalist for the NomadHer Global Illustration Competition, this work was exhibited at the RYZE Hotel in Seoul, South Korea.

This work explores the fluid identity of the female traveler, the many versions of ourselves we inhabit when we move across oceans and boundaries. In this composition, the hair serves as a physical representation of connectivity, acting as a bridge to "the other side" of our identity.

The flowing, interwoven lines symbolize the expansion of the mind that occurs through travel: the new neural pathways and perspectives gained within the "head-brain" as we navigate the unknown. It serves as a visual manifesto for nomad women, proving that travel is not merely a change in geography, but a profound internal rewiring and a constant arrival at a more complex version of the self.

Lina Mayorga’s sculptural painting series, "Surviving Weight" was featured in the 12th exhibition of The Hechyeomoyeo 헤쳐모여, hosted at The Living Gallery in Brooklyn.

As part of this global collective, Lina’s work explored themes of endurance and transformation alongside artists from South Korea, France, and Thailand. Her pieces utilize tactile acrylics and clay to translate internal emotional landscapes into physical, textured forms that challenge the boundary between painting and sculpture.