Faculty

Profile

María Elena Pombo works under the moniker Fragmentario researching and experimenting with materials as a way to explore and share ideas about time, culture and collective consciousness.

Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Forbes, Architectural Digest, Time Out, among other media, as well as in the 2019 book True Colors: World Masters of Natural Dyes and Pigments.

Pombo has exhibited her work at the London Design Biennale at Somerset House (London, UK), A/D/O (Brooklyn, New York); SXSW (Austin, Texas); Yamamoto Seika (Osaka, Japan); La Guarimba Film Festival (Amantea, Italy); among others. Her exhibition La Rentrada won the award for the most inspiring interpretation of the theme at the 2021 London Design Biennale edition.

She works with diverse clients developing applications of her research, as well as providing communication and education support. Previous clients include: HBO, Inditex, Melissa Shoes, Buffy, Studio Nudo, National Onion Association.

Pombo is part-time lecturer at Parsons School of Design and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. She has been guest lecturer and critic at Yale University, the Fashion Institute of Technology, International Fashion Academy of Paris, New York Botanical Garden, as well as non-traditional spaces in the USA, Europe and Japan.

She is a graduate of Parsons School of Design in New York, where she studied fashion design, and has worked as a fashion designer for brands like Michael Kors, Veronica Beard, Ovadia & Sons, among others.

She also studied at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas (Venezuela) where she received her production engineering degree and at Institute National des Sciences Appliquées in Lyon (France) where she was an Erasmus student in their industrial engineering program. She also worked as an engineer trainée in Venezuela and in France

www.fragmentario.co

Degrees Held

2011 - 2013 ::: Parsons School of Design ::: AAS, Fashion Design ::: New York, New York

2005 - 2011 ::: Universidad Simón Bolívar ::: Engineering Degree, Industrial Engineering ::: Caracas, Venezuela

Other:

2020 - 2021 ::: Universidad Metropolitana ::: Certificate, Venezuelan History & Venezuelan Art ::: Caracas, Venezuela (Online)

2010 ::: Institute National des Sciences Appliquées ::: Erasmus Student, Industrial Engineering ::: Lyon, France

Research Interests

History, Possible Futures, Material Research/Experimentation, Vernacular Design, Waste Management, Food Systems, Internet, Global South, Latin America, Venezuela, Soft Power, Decentralization of Narratives, Geopolitics, Economic Systems, Appropriate Technology; Language