Mariarosaria Stigliano was born in Taranto in 1973. Although drawn to art and creative expression from childhood, she moved to Rome to study Law at La Sapienza University. After taking her degree, she decided to undertake studies that suited her real passions, and so enrolled at RUFA (Rome University of Fine Arts). She later obtained her teaching qualification in painting technique.

Interested in the transience of the human figure in urban contexts, industrial remains, and interiors, she has developed a personal style of painting in which the canvas is distressed with a mixture of graphite, oil, and industrial enamels. The eye-catching images of her paintings are found in vibrant, disquieting contexts, suspended in alienating compositions, halfway between dream and reality. In 2007, she won the Massenzio Arte Award, and since then she has participated in numerous solo and group exhibitions in Italy and abroad. Her work has been exhibited in prestigious venues, including the Museum of San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome (2009), the Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation in Venice and the Museo Venanzo Crocetti in Rome (2011) and the MLAC – Museum Laboratory of Contemporary Art at La Sapienza University in Rome (2013). In 2011, she held two important solo exhibitions, Fabbrica Città (Factory City) at the Castello Aragonese in Taranto and Music Box at the Italian Cultural Institute in Bogota, Colombia.

In the same year, she was among the first Italian artists to be invited to Hangzhou, China, as part of the On the Trail of Marco Polo project, and she took part in the International Art Symposium of Wittingen/Luben at the Italian Cultural Institute in Wolfsburg, Germany. She returned to Germany in 2012 and 2014 for the solo shows Reportage di un sogno (Report of a Dream) at the Italian Cultural Institute in Wolfsburg, Una nuvola sulla luna (A Cloud on the Moon) at an art gallery in Berlin and Lezioni di Volo (Flying Lessons) at Neuhaus Castle in Wolfsburg. Stigliano lives and works in Marino.