 Post graduation, she worked for eight years as the studio director for artist Cai Guo-Qiang.Ma's initial practical training in advertising fostered in her "a production and design aesthetic … in the sense that she is responsive to the qualities and needs of materials as well as to the demands of place and public," while remaining critical of market and client.In 2001, Ma fought with another female Asian artist/designer in the live-wrestling performance "Crouching Bitch at Deitch Projects".