 Public art is complementary to Ma's exhibitions in galleries and museums where more complex and personal visions are presented to an audience of more limited size.In 2012, Ma covered live plants with ink in her installation "Hanging Garden in Ink" at Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, referencing the Hanging Gardens of Babylon to meditate on universal topics such as "the illusion of material wealth, declarations of love, and the power of nature and myth, among other things.