Episode #06: Salvadorian & Cuban-American Artist Manuela Guillén

Episode Summary:

On this week’s episode, I chatted with Salvadorian and Cuban-American artist and educator Manuela Guillén. Manuela and I talked all about growing up in Miami, feeling out of place in white majority neighborhoods, and growing up as a first generation kid in the US. We also dissected how she got started creating “political” work, what it was like living and teaching in Mexico, and how her Latinx heritage influences her artwork. Join me on this week’s episode to learn more about Manuela bicultural background and creative career.

Episode Notes:

Do you ever have the urge to sell everything you own and move to a tropical island? Well this week’s [Draws in Spanish] guest did just that! Although Manuela doesn’t consider herself someone who usually makes impulse decisions, we talked all about how her time living abroad in Isla Mujeres, Mexico and how her experiences in Latin America directly influence her work to this day.

Manuela, now an artist and educator based in Philadelphia, was raised in South Florida and moved to a predominately white suburb in New Jersey. During her high school years, Manuela felt ostracized for being Latina and found solidarity with other creative kids of color.

Manuela’s family has always been extremely supportive of her creativity and encouraged her to pursue her dreams of being an artist. With her family’s support, she went on to attend Stockton University where she developed a series of paintings that celebrated her family’s immigration story, and kicked off her more “political” work. Now, Manuela fully believes in art’s power to create social change by disarming viewers and showing them a new perspective.

Beyond her relationship with art, we also discussed body image issues associated with Latinx women, identifying with alternative and “emo” subcultures, and the unwanted attention of speaking Spanish publicly in suburban New Jersey. Listen to this episode to learn more about Manuela’s complex identity and unique path as an artist.

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, iHeartRadio, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Topics Covered:

1. Impulsively Moving to Isla Mujeres in Mexico

2. Being an Art Teacher in North Philly

3. How Living Abroad in Tropical Places Has Shaped Her Work

4. How Her Cuban and Salvadorian Culture Influence Her

5. The Diversity of Culture and Food in Latin America

6. Speaking Spanish in White Dominated Spaces

7. Feeling Ostracized because of your Latinx Culture

8. Finding Community Through Art

9. Breaking Down Negative Cuban and Latinx Stereotypes

10. How Art Can Create Social Change

Guest Info

Check out Manuela’s latest work on Instagram or on her portfolio

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Show Transcript (Automatically generated)

Ep 6 - Manuela Guillen
[Captions are Automatically Generated]

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00;00;09;24 - 00;00;32;18

Fabiola Lara

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to Draws In Spanish, a podcast that showcases the creative journey of notable Latinx visual artist and designers — I'm your host Fabiola Lara. On today's episode, I'm talking with fellow Philly based artist Manuela Guillen. Manuela is a Cuban and Salvadorian painter, muralist and digital illustrator who raises awareness for sociopolitical and environmental issues through her work.

00;00;32;29 - 00;00;56;13

Fabiola Lara

Most recently, she was a part of Old Navy's project We Campaign where she designed a shirt in celebration of Latinx Heritage Month. Let's get right into our conversation Hey, Manila. Thank you so much for joining me today on Draws and Spanish. I am so excited to be chatting with another Philly artist today. Can you introduce yourself for those who might not know you or your work?

00;00;56;14 - 00;00;56;24

Fabiola Lara

Yep.

00;00;57;00 - 00;01;15;12

Manuela Guillen

Thank you for having me. My name is Manuela Guillen in I'm a local artist here in Philadelphia. I'm a first generation American, born to Cuban and Salvadorian immigrant parents, born in Miami, and also grew up in New Jersey. And now I'm in Philly.

00;01;16;09 - 00;01;29;08

Fabiola Lara

Nice. That's a really quick recap. My first question was going to be if you could tell me more about where you were born and raised I feel like you already kind of took me everywhere. But can you elaborate more about like kind of your upbringing?

00;01;30;01 - 00;02;03;12

Manuela Guillen

Yeah, for sure. So I was born in Miami and I grew up there, so I was 16. But there was a period that I also lived in Dominican Republic. So when I was two years old to about five years old, I was in Santo Domingo and came back to Miami and lived in Miami. I was 16. We moved to South Jersey, which it was like a suburbs area, like near the woods and pine barren areas.

00;02;03;20 - 00;02;14;23

Manuela Guillen

And then I stayed there until college and then I ended up living in Philly and I ended up while living in Philly, took the side to Mexico for half a year, and now I'm back in Philly.

00;02;15;06 - 00;02;17;25

Fabiola Lara

When was your time in Mexico? How recently was that?

00;02;18;03 - 00;02;26;07

Manuela Guillen

That was when I was like 26, 27 so four years ago before me or, and a half.

00;02;26;10 - 00;02;28;04

Fabiola Lara

How was your time living in Mexico?

00;02;28;14 - 00;02;54;12

Manuela Guillen

Oh, it was amazing. Kind of a crazy story because when I was in college, I went to Mexico. My partner at the time and he said his sister had like a sticker free ticket and if I wanted to go so they gave it to me and I went through my time there. I met a couple. We exchanged information, like, hung out during my time there and like, I kept going back to the island, by the way.

00;02;54;12 - 00;03;14;07

Manuela Guillen

I mean, this part are not together anymore. And I really keep in touch with his sister or the family anymore, but I kept in touch with this couple that lived in this island. And I would go to the island and I would stay with them. And I did this for years when I was living in Philly. They had mentioned a teaching job that there was an opening at the primary school.

00;03;14;08 - 00;03;15;13

Manuela Guillen

They were looking for an English teacher.

00;03;15;13 - 00;03;16;18

Fabiola Lara

And they got the island.

00;03;17;00 - 00;03;36;07

Manuela Guillen

At the island and Islamic Harris, and they were like, Yeah. I said, you know, you can come stay with us. Or like, you could sign up for a program. They can give you housing. So I decided to do that. And the crazy part of the story, I would think someone at the time as well. So not, not the first partner, but the second one we had just broken up.

00;03;36;13 - 00;03;54;24

Manuela Guillen

I don't do things like this. Like I don't impulsively decide to go live in another country. But some people say Sadr return. That was around the time of that. So me and broke up and I was like, I need to get out of here. I need a change. And like, that was the year Trump won the election. And things are getting crazier.

00;03;54;28 - 00;04;00;20

Manuela Guillen

Things were overwhelming and intense, and I was just like, I want to leave. And I packed my bags and I just went.

00;04;01;02 - 00;04;02;15

Fabiola Lara

And you applied for that job?

00;04;03;00 - 00;04;07;10

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. So I applied for the job I got to teach in Mexico for half a year.

00;04;07;11 - 00;04;08;09

Fabiola Lara

What did you teach?

00;04;08;16 - 00;04;20;29

Manuela Guillen

I taught English and I did teach art for like two months for like a summer program. They had like a summer school program. So I did that. And we like those three kids are we painted a mural It was awesome. It was great.

00;04;21;06 - 00;04;25;08

Fabiola Lara

Oh, that sounds like a very pivotal moment for you.

00;04;25;29 - 00;04;47;09

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. And when I came back from Mexico, I thought about living there. I really loved the island, the people, and I was so comfortable there because that wasn't just my first time there. I was already visiting this couple. Their names on San Juan, and I was already visiting them. And I was like, you know, it'd be great to just, like, stay for a year or two, just go live there for a while.

00;04;47;19 - 00;05;15;04

Manuela Guillen

And I sold all my stuff on my records, like books, movie, and I got a call from my current now my current job. And there were they mentioned that someone recommended them to me. I was recommended to them, and they wanted me to come for an interview. And I ended up loving the school I'm currently working at. It's in North Philly, and it's this a very strong, like, Latin American district.

00;05;15;07 - 00;05;22;28

Manuela Guillen

And I love working with students who we have a very similar background like their line. I find a line for.

00;05;22;28 - 00;05;26;06

Fabiola Lara

Those who don't know. Can you explain a little bit about your current job?

00;05;26;15 - 00;05;34;14

Manuela Guillen

So I forgot to mention I'm an artist and a teaching artist, so I teach art to sixth graders in North Philly.

00;05;34;23 - 00;05;43;20

Fabiola Lara

Awesome. So the only reason you didn't move to Mexico in the end was because you got a call from this job that you're currently at. They held you back in Philly.

00;05;43;27 - 00;05;44;13

Manuela Guillen

Yeah.

00;05;44;14 - 00;05;48;22

Fabiola Lara

How do you feel about that? Do you still wish you had experienced more time in Mexico?

00;05;48;22 - 00;05;57;24

Manuela Guillen

There are days. I'm like, I should have just moved to this beautiful tropical island and what am I doing here in North Philly? Working with teenagers like you really have to be a special person.

00;05;58;04 - 00;06;08;10

Fabiola Lara

Do you ever, like, think about, like, that alternate universe where you're, like, living at each level? It is like, T.J., just it's a completely different version of you, right?

00;06;08;24 - 00;06;24;26

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. But I actually like because I feel like living in a tropical island and you don't know what it is, is right outside of Cancun and it's like super touristy. So there's a lot of pressure to always go out. And, you know, even if you say you're just going to go out for a beer, like the atmosphere, it pulls you.

00;06;24;26 - 00;06;31;02

Manuela Guillen

And it's great because you met people from all over the world. Like when I was there for the six months, I met so many people.

00;06;31;06 - 00;06;33;14

Fabiola Lara

Right. Because it's like an international destination.

00;06;34;03 - 00;06;53;10

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. But to be quite honest, I love Philly because it really grounds me. I kind of like how laidback it is here and like teaching is very comfortable for me. The students I have, I always get new sixth graders, but there's something about the youth in that area. Like they're very similar, you know, and like I'm very comfortable and like in this space.

00;06;53;22 - 00;06;56;14

Fabiola Lara

And it's still relatively close to your hometown.

00;06;56;23 - 00;06;57;08

Manuela Guillen

Yeah.

00;06;57;12 - 00;06;59;21

Fabiola Lara

So there has to be a little bit reassuring.

00;06;59;23 - 00;07;00;09

Manuela Guillen

Yeah.

00;07;00;17 - 00;07;10;06

Fabiola Lara

So you lived in Islamic this you lived in the Managua Republic. How have those living experience, like shaped you or your work, do you think they have at all?

00;07;10;16 - 00;07;33;21

Manuela Guillen

Yeah, I do think that living in tropical places like that has shaped my work. I also like living in Miami. I think my culture and like being censored other than American culture is like the Republican. Mexico has definitely influenced my work. I was thinking about like all the colors I use in my art, and they're almost like soft tropical colors.

00;07;33;21 - 00;07;54;18

Manuela Guillen

And it kind of reminds me of like when I was a kid, like when I look back on my early childhood memories, my mom would take me to the beach or we'd walk around the neighborhood, and I feel like I was always, like, immersed in the colors. And this is when I was in public. I remember just, like, always seeing flowers everywhere, like staring at the water for hours, and it still stayed with me.

00;07;54;19 - 00;08;13;25

Manuela Guillen

Or like growing up in Miami, I don't always mention this, but like my Instagram handle was called Lazy Beam, and it's kind of is like another name I go by sometimes, but I got that name because I would spend days living in Florida, like just laying on the grass and like staring at the clouds and just feeling like with some beans and just being lazy.

00;08;14;13 - 00;08;24;14

Manuela Guillen

And I did a series where I tried to imitate things that were inside these pink clouds, and I would like different things that I would see as I had an art series like that for a bit.

00;08;24;14 - 00;08;34;25

Fabiola Lara

Yeah, I feel like the heat in Florida has a way of slowing everyone down, sometimes in like a twisted way. It can be like both beautiful and also, like, intense.

00;08;34;26 - 00;08;47;22

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. Just one more thing to like the settings where I like the tropical places, that's definitely something I do try to incorporate in my work often like beaches, palm trees, kind of the warm, like a soft, warm feeling.

00;08;48;15 - 00;09;05;20

Fabiola Lara

I know last time we talked in person, you had told me a little bit about your childhood, but when I was like kind of researching and preparing for this, I didn't see too much information out there. So thank you for sharing. You mentioned to me that you are Cuban and Salvadorian. What was it like kind of growing up with those two influences for you in your childhood?

00;09;06;07 - 00;09;29;11

Manuela Guillen

I love being this mix. My family is from the Caribbean, and then I have family from Central America. And just being introduced to like the food that you would see in the Caribbean and the music and the way people carried themselves, like the way Cuban speaking in Miami. Like it's very strong and bold. Like you always think like you.

00;09;29;11 - 00;09;44;16

Manuela Guillen

You just stop what you're doing. You listen. And then like Central Americans, like I always think about my sisters because I had three sisters that were born in El Salvador and my mom like a little bit sometimes soft-spoken. They also make different dishes and like, what Caribbean people make.

00;09;44;17 - 00;10;01;13

Fabiola Lara

Yeah. I feel like there's like an assumption that all Central America and Latin America and the Caribbean all have, like, the same culture. But you learn from these very specific cultures that are totally different is like such a beautiful mix and has to kind of expand your view a little bit.

00;10;01;14 - 00;10;14;07

Manuela Guillen

Oh, my God. I'm glad you touched on that, because I've had this conversation many times. People in the U.S. really poor Latin Americans like blind people in a box, like we're all the same, but we are very different.

00;10;14;17 - 00;10;16;25

Fabiola Lara

Now, yeah, it's like a bunch of different countries.

00;10;16;28 - 00;10;26;21

Manuela Guillen

Yeah, they're different countries. Not everyone in the Caribbean even does the same food they like. So you and I'm talking about crazy if we. Yeah, there's some influence because. Yes, right. But they're different.

00;10;26;22 - 00;10;49;07

Fabiola Lara

Yeah. There's more similarity between countries that are closer to each other because of the same kind of climate. The same geography kind of inclines the countries to be more similar because like, they're growing similar stuff, but the culture can be completely different. Was it weird for you, like being in Miami? There's such a strong Cuban influence in Miami because of the proximity to Cuba, obviously.

00;10;49;07 - 00;11;00;22

Fabiola Lara

But also just like a lot of Cuban immigrants, land in Miami. Was it weird for you growing up with like such a strong Cuban presence, but then like maybe El Salvador isn't as represented?

00;11;01;10 - 00;11;22;27

Manuela Guillen

I feel like I only met a handful of Salvadorians in Miami, and even here, like living in Philadelphia. And when I lived in Jersey, I only met like a handful so I didn't live in like sexy, cool Miami that everyone's probably thinking about right now. Like, I'm not from that Miami. I'm from like Homestead, Florida. Which is so Miami Dade.

00;11;23;05 - 00;11;38;01

Manuela Guillen

And I moved around a lot. We looked around a lot. So we I lived in Miami Springs, Homestead, Florida, Hialeah. So it's not like the Miami you often see on TV or like sexy, cool clubs. You know, it's a little different. Like Homestead, for example.

00;11;38;01 - 00;11;47;11

Fabiola Lara

It's almost like Miami suburbs. I know I have been to Homestead, but I don't remember anything. I was a kid, so I have like no permanent with locations.

00;11;47;26 - 00;11;49;10

Manuela Guillen

Right. Because you're also from Florida.

00;11;49;10 - 00;12;09;02

Fabiola Lara

Yes, I'm from Florida. I grew up in in Miami. Again, not the sexy part, but I grew up in Kendall, which is like it's like hip now, I guess maybe or more known. And then I grew up in like the suburbs of Florida hours away. So but very different than like what you're explaining, I think, based on like, you know, when we chatted last time.

00;12;09;13 - 00;12;37;05

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. So Home says more like Everglades and there's a lot of farmland. But there there's actually a strong Mexican community and I'm Salvadoran on my mom's side. And being Cuban, the fact that there were a lot of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans like it was pretty decent. I didn't feel like out of place because it's Mexico's above Central America. So like there are some similarities really to like how we make deals and corn being a big influence in our dish.

00;12;37;16 - 00;12;51;05

Fabiola Lara

That's cool that you were able to connect with El Salvador through even just like Mexican food or the neighbors or people just because of the closer similarities Yeah.

00;12;51;05 - 00;13;05;05

Manuela Guillen

Like, you know, obviously they introduce me to new stuff when I was a kid. Like, I went to some of my friend's house and they would introduce me to like the candies they would bring from Mexico and they would describe it to me. And they're like, Oh, this is somebody. No. And I was like, Oh, well, my mom eats that.

00;13;05;06 - 00;13;21;17

Manuela Guillen

Like, we read that too. And they're like, Oh, try this, candy. It has like this chili in this thing. And then and then just as mango, when I'm like, Oh, I mango. And like, we put like sign on top of it. And I'm like, Well, I love this thing. And I never had time. I remember the first time I tried buying and like, milk is I don't know if you've ever had these.

00;13;21;19 - 00;13;23;27

Fabiola Lara

I've had to. I haven't. What was the other one that you said?

00;13;24;02 - 00;13;25;14

Manuela Guillen

The other one's called Lucas.

00;13;25;22 - 00;13;26;28

Fabiola Lara

No, I haven't tried that.

00;13;27;02 - 00;13;42;29

Manuela Guillen

When I was a kid, I loved it. It's like soul and lime powder. And you it's a candy, and you just put it on anything. You just eat it straight by. Yeah, I like that. When I was in Florida, like, I never felt ostracized for being who I was. Not in Florida. Jersey was different.

00;13;43;08 - 00;14;06;00

Fabiola Lara

Let's get into that, because I feel like in Miami, everyone is from all over Latin America. And there's just like an acceptance of it. Obviously, there's like a bigger representation for Caribbean countries purely because of proximity. But how was it like moving to New Jersey from Miami, which is so diverse and Latin American influence to New Jersey, which isn't.

00;14;06;14 - 00;14;22;16

Manuela Guillen

Moving from South Florida, from Miami to South Jersey, where I was in the suburbs, I was in the woods like Pine Barrens, where they're everyone's posse in South Florida. I can, you know, like I barely saw white people ever.

00;14;22;16 - 00;14;26;14

Fabiola Lara

I mean, everyone speaks Spanish. If you don't speak Spanish, it's weird.

00;14;26;14 - 00;14;31;22

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. And even if people if that wasn't like there like that wasn't the language they grew up with, they knew it.

00;14;31;22 - 00;14;33;15

Fabiola Lara

Yeah. Like you understood. Yeah.

00;14;33;15 - 00;14;37;11

Manuela Guillen

I had friends from, like, Haiti who, like, they knew the word that leave things somewhere.

00;14;37;15 - 00;14;47;15

Fabiola Lara

Because if you had to order at anywhere or if you had to go to the store, most likely everyone who worked there spoke Spanish. It's very normalized there.

00;14;48;03 - 00;15;12;25

Manuela Guillen

When I moved to Jersey, I did feel ostracized. I remember like, my mom and my family, like, there's I have five sisters and one of them state of Florida, and the rest of us came to Jersey. So once in Florida, when her husband and kids and my other my older sister who also had husbands and kids and we all like kind of like we lived in the same neighborhood, like positive city clothes and like when we would talk in Spanish in public.

00;15;12;25 - 00;15;29;25

Manuela Guillen

I was 16 years old and awkward and I remember like noticing how people looked at me or looked at my family and like I started feeling embarrassed side like wouldn't speak Spanish. And then when I went to the high school, there were like next kids there and other kids there.

00;15;29;25 - 00;15;43;09

Fabiola Lara

But it's not the same. It's like they're all like, Okay, now I'm projecting onto you, but I don't know if this was the case for you. Like, I moved to a super white school and then there was like a click of like the Latin next kids. But it's like five total.

00;15;43;23 - 00;16;03;06

Manuela Guillen

In my but it was definitely more than five. I think there were like 15 of us or something it was a good amount, you know, from ninth or 10th, ninth US senior, right? Like ninth as well. But I was definitely a minority and were bringing that to my attention. I remember being called ghetto, which was weird because I was always kind of like a weird kid, even in Florida.

00;16;03;06 - 00;16;20;02

Manuela Guillen

Like I was kind of like into the emo scene. I pay my nails black and like I was kind of I would dress, I would dress weird. It's so embarrassing. I didn't so I wasn't even like I was like, I don't feel like I fit a stereotype, but living in Florida, being Latina, like there were some things I still carried with me.

00;16;20;02 - 00;16;27;03

Manuela Guillen

Like, yeah, I was emo, but I still wear hoop earrings, but my name on it, you know, like because I was like people worn clothes, they all the time and and I love that.

00;16;27;05 - 00;16;47;27

Fabiola Lara

That's what was cool. Like, I think that's something that is like under experienced almost is like if you go to one school that's like the culture is so specific like in Miami, you know, it's like so Hispanic and Latin-American influenced and then you go to a wide school, like, what's cool is totally different and it's like, so trippy.

00;16;48;19 - 00;17;14;03

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. Like, hoop earrings were not seen as cool. They were seen as ghetto. And I wore like bracelets, gold bracelets, and I had lots of jewelry on. I mean, it's funny now, like a lot of the stuff people wear because I guess people wear street culture now on the runways, I guess. But like back in the 2005 2006, I didn't see a lot of people wear that in my high school except like the next kids or the black students.

00;17;14;03 - 00;17;16;15

Fabiola Lara

Then it was like the different thing to be doing.

00;17;16;26 - 00;17;20;27

Manuela Guillen

And not everyone so on. Also point on everyone, not in the thing that everyone wears.

00;17;21;07 - 00;17;24;19

Fabiola Lara

But I get what you're trying to say, like it's just a different vibe.

00;17;24;29 - 00;17;59;11

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. So I definitely feel ostracized. Luckily, though, I did find a group of people in the school who I feel safe with and I felt community in. I did meet other artsy kids when I was in high school, some who I still keep in touch with. We did find community and like we expressed like kind of like our frustrations of how people saw us or like sometimes we just talked about our and we felt ourselves and there was there was like a nuance and now like our identity was and like always talked about when we were together, we just saw kids making art that was our community.

00;17;59;11 - 00;18;04;02

Manuela Guillen

And we met more people along the way in high school. But it was really nice to find that.

00;18;04;10 - 00;18;26;21

Fabiola Lara

That's awesome. Especially when, like, you go to a new place, you just want to find people that are like, like you and you can hang out with and find like safety you said now that you had like your artsy Latin and people of color squad, have you always been artsy? Is that something that you in high school or in middle school when you were artsy?

00;18;27;01 - 00;18;28;26

Fabiola Lara

Was that like to a benefit?

00;18;29;04 - 00;19;01;14

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. So I was always into art, and I think there's something really amazing about being an artist because you become like a little bit more open minded. You're willing to try new things. And I have been into art since I was 12 years old, and this something about hanging out artists, we like going to the lunchroom, we go to the art room and have our lunch there and make art, and we would talk softly like we weren't very like extra, you know, like I was very shy when I was in middle, spent a lot of my friends I hung out with were also like that.

00;19;02;02 - 00;19;05;29

Manuela Guillen

I mean, it's funny now because I feel like a lot of us really have come out of our shells.

00;19;05;29 - 00;19;12;02

Fabiola Lara

And since you said you've been artsy, since you were like 12, has your family always been supportive and nurturing of that?

00;19;12;08 - 00;19;43;05

Manuela Guillen

Yeah, I think that they've always been supportive. I remember like my dad always buying me art supplies when I was a kid. My mom when I told her I wanted to be an artist, she came here undocumented and she's always had like low paying jobs. She works in the fields and housekeeping and I never felt like she pressured me to make a lot of money because I always hear what like other people go through and they're always like, Yeah, it's all my immigrant mom that I want to be an artist.

00;19;43;05 - 00;19;53;26

Manuela Guillen

And they shot it down. I'm like, My mom never did. She didn't. She was so excited for me, and she thought it was so cool and she thought it was amazing. I was going to go to school for that. And she's always been supportive.

00;19;53;28 - 00;20;13;20

Fabiola Lara

Oh, that's beautiful. I'm glad to hear that. Yeah. I feel like sometimes, especially with immigrant parents, it's like a harder sell. Like in my experience, like my both my parents are immigrants. I'm an immigrant. And when I told them, it was like, you know, my parents are super supportive, but there is like a sense of doubt. You know, it's like all right, go for it.

00;20;13;20 - 00;20;15;29

Fabiola Lara

But like kind of this, like, reservation.

00;20;16;02 - 00;20;39;29

Manuela Guillen

I come from a family. They've always been supportive, and we're like survivors, too. So I know like almost everyone in my family had to have different jobs and try to make it. We really did come from some really and some hardships. Like, my mom was a documented for years and we lived in low income areas. So, like, we always knew, like, we would somehow be able to find a way to get through.

00;20;40;04 - 00;20;43;07

Fabiola Lara

Right? So it's like May as well pursue art. You'll figure it out.

00;20;43;13 - 00;20;57;00

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. They're like, Oh, you want to do art? Okay. Like you still find a way to pay the bill. There was no doubt because they were just that kind of family. Like, we're very like survive and we'll figure it out along the way. And they were supportive. My sister were supportive.

00;20;57;03 - 00;20;59;24

Fabiola Lara

And so you ended up going to school for art?

00;21;00;03 - 00;21;01;02

Manuela Guillen

Yeah, I did.

00;21;01;02 - 00;21;02;17

Fabiola Lara

Where'd you go? What did you in?

00;21;02;23 - 00;21;23;03

Manuela Guillen

So I did go to school for art and it was for painting, which was kind of and then I went to community college first, by the way, and I did studio art, and I realized I really enjoyed painting from all the different art styles I tried in those two years. And then I went to Stockton College went out to Stockton University.

00;21;23;03 - 00;21;44;09

Manuela Guillen

But when I went, it was called Richardson College. And that small school in the middle of, again, the woods of Jersey, and it's really a lovely school. The building was small. It didn't pass the trees. And they were like, you can go on hikes in between classes. And it was like really peaceful. Like our school days, it would be like four of us.

00;21;44;10 - 00;22;02;28

Fabiola Lara

Cool. That's cool though, because then you get some more one on one time before we, like continued to talk about your work, are there any misconception guns or tropes about Cuban or Salvadorian culture that you're, like, tired of hearing of that you want to, like, dismiss? I ask this because I'm like, with every episode hopefully we can, like, educate.

00;22;03;03 - 00;22;28;12

Manuela Guillen

Right. I love that you do that. I mean, I just feel like I hear all the stereotypes and they're all wrong. All right. I can talk about being Cuban and living in Miami and the stereotype that sings the most the song the most growing up was like, I'm still very like how people like women from Cuba have, like, the best bodies and like, they're very objectified.

00;22;28;12 - 00;22;35;00

Manuela Guillen

They are objectifying, like these women's bodies in Miami. Florida, like it's like plays. Like, people are like, yeah, like.

00;22;35;00 - 00;22;36;02

Fabiola Lara

That's the body.

00;22;36;11 - 00;22;40;12

Manuela Guillen

It's the body. Like, all Cuban women have beautiful body that's.

00;22;40;12 - 00;22;46;21

Fabiola Lara

Like, perfect hourglass bodies, right? Like, that's that. For listeners who don't know, like, that's the trope. That's the stereotype.

00;22;47;03 - 00;23;05;20

Manuela Guillen

I hated that one because, man, I really needed a lot of self-love. Like, I really have grown a lot with my self-love. But like, when I was living in Miami, where everyone's freaking gorgeous, like, I was skinny, I was like, Yanni. I feel like people from Miami are going to get me to them and be like, Why are you saying no?

00;23;05;20 - 00;23;29;08

Fabiola Lara

I get what I get. What you're trying to say, though, like, the stereotype in Miami is to have like this perfect hourglass body people just assume of Latin American women. I think like because we have the era of over generalizing all of Latin America, it's like this perfect hourglass, like busty but like perfectly busty. And yeah, it's like in Miami, it's so prevalent.

00;23;29;23 - 00;23;48;12

Manuela Guillen

I did not look like that at all. And I mean, I remember one time when I moved to Jersey, I was working in a performing arts theater and someone I worked with was like, you know, where are you from? And I told him I was Cuban in Salvador. And he's like, Huh? Interesting, because your body, you just don't look at a man told me this.

00;23;48;12 - 00;24;01;06

Manuela Guillen

I was like, What And I was like, Well, that's inappropriate. Like, you work with me. And I was also like 20 years old. I was like, What? I was like, I thought I got away from those leaving Miami. But no.

00;24;01;07 - 00;24;23;09

Fabiola Lara

No. But there's always this, like, stereotype. I mean, I think it's just so prevalent to, like, in Miami, you experience it, living it, you know, like if you go to the mall, if you go to the shops, like, that's what's like even the mannequins look like that. But then I think on TV, for example, the representation of like, quote, Latin American women, they are kind of like that.

00;24;23;09 - 00;24;25;15

Fabiola Lara

And so it just like spreads everywhere.

00;24;26;06 - 00;24;47;07

Manuela Guillen

And that's like not good for anyone's mental health All my life, I always hear Latin women, they like I need to be on a diet. I'm on a diet. And I was just like, you know, and, you know, talking about self-love, like, you know, our bodies we need to appreciate for everything they do for us. And we put food and water in it and like, it's going to look and feel soft and like, she'll love it.

00;24;47;07 - 00;25;10;00

Manuela Guillen

And of course, like, you know, if you want to take care of your body and like exercise and want to look athletic and feel like, yeah, that's also valid. But like, let's remember like Latin American women in our bodies, they come in many shapes and also stop objectifying it. Like, I'm so like in disbelief that a man and not it wasn't just him like I want out of the Mexican.

00;25;10;00 - 00;25;13;26

Manuela Guillen

I told people I was I told him I was Cuban too out. They would just bring up my body.

00;25;14;00 - 00;25;39;09

Fabiola Lara

That's horrible. Yeah. Let's shut that down. If any listeners out there mistakenly thought this. Shut it down if you hear other people saying this. Yeah, let's move forward. Okay. So going back to your work when did you first kind of start using art to raise awareness for more sociopolitical causes and more just like social causes?

00;25;39;18 - 00;26;03;24

Manuela Guillen

When I moved to New Jersey because I feel ostracized and I feel kind of out of place, I stopped using art to tell like my story. I stole my art, but it wasn't storytelling. It wasn't me showing anywhere to say anything anymore when I was living in Florida, like I was actually very political in middle school and high school.

00;26;04;00 - 00;26;15;18

Manuela Guillen

I went to my first protest when I was like, I think I was like 11 or 12. And there was a Cuban boy who came from from Cuba to you remember this kneeling before the end of the Black.

00;26;16;03 - 00;26;18;10

Fabiola Lara

Lion Oh, my God. Yeah.

00;26;18;17 - 00;26;35;13

Manuela Guillen

And like the trauma that came with him being, like, removed from his family, like they sent in a whole SWAT team to remove a like 11 year old boy my dad, like, we talked about it, and he's like, you know, we should go and like, support the family. So that was one. And then when I was in high school, I went to a couple immigration protests.

00;26;35;13 - 00;26;57;13

Manuela Guillen

So I'm like, I am from Homestead, which there's a lot of farmland. The mom was a field worker. Like she collected tomatoes and other things like from the field. So, you know, I always have a soft spot and like for immigration rights. And I would do a lot of walk out protests in my high school or like to go to protest if it was in the neighborhood there weren't many at the time.

00;26;57;13 - 00;27;34;11

Manuela Guillen

And also being that I was young, my mom would always let me go. So I was passionate about these things. I didn't put it into quite into my art yet. When I went to college, though, for my thesis show, when I was thinking about what I wanted to make, I decided to tell my family's immigration story and also experiencing the duality of being a first generation American and so being a part of my family's culture because my family were, you know, they had to leave their homeland because of I mean, many factors but I always think about like US imperialism, like how that affects countries in Latin America, like El Salvador, experience the civil war.

00;27;34;24 - 00;27;53;00

Manuela Guillen

And my mom had no choice but to leave and seek asylum and come to the US. And, you know, same thing with my dad. Like being in Cuba, it was hard for them to have access to food and, and we can get into these topics in other time. But like I always like like politics like really revolved around me without me really knowing it was politics.

00;27;53;08 - 00;28;02;04

Fabiola Lara

I mean, it's just like it's present in your life. So it's like you don't necessarily choose to be always involved. It's like just a part of your story at this point, right?

00;28;02;07 - 00;28;29;17

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. And it was a conversation they would just tell me their story, what it was like when I was graduating, when I was about to graduate my senior thesis show, I told their story, and for the first time, I started talking about immigration rights and I started talking about my family's, their journey and language. They overcome it. And like myself, like, what's it like being a first generation in this country and the first American ever in my family's history?

00;28;29;17 - 00;28;43;20

Manuela Guillen

Really, like, and now, of course, like, we're all Americans, but like to tell that story. And my professor at the time was like, hey, like, I was like, are you going to continue doing this political art? And I was like, oh, no, it's not political. It's just my family story. And he's like, Are you sure? I'm like.

00;28;43;25 - 00;28;53;06

Fabiola Lara

How is it like creating that kind of personal now, you know, political work there in the context of South Jersey, let's say?

00;28;53;27 - 00;29;17;07

Manuela Guillen

I believe that arts and storytelling are very important tools to create social change in your community. So even though there were three painting majors, I remember like they were all white, we would talk about our paintings and I would tell them my story and they were like, Wow, I had no idea, you know, like that this kind of stuff happened to people then.

00;29;17;07 - 00;29;39;24

Manuela Guillen

Nathan, your it turns out like one of the painters, it was Jewish and like they were telling me their story and it really like there was like a sense of community and like we talked about our struggles, and I really love that about art, like how telling stories through our work, like, can foster like, empathy and community and you realize, like, we're not so different and true.

00;29;39;24 - 00;30;16;08

Fabiola Lara

Yeah, like it. Especially when people don't have one on one experience, right? Like, they didn't know this kind of your immigrant story. They didn't know that this quote, like, really happened. And by you opening up through your artwork, like, now they know and now they can like, they have empathy for you because they know more about you. And it's just like you do that now with your work, even on Instagram, just like continuing to share to your followers whatever their background is can kind of like learn empathy and like learn what else is going on and I think that it's really cool that you're able to carry that through.

00;30;16;13 - 00;30;34;23

Manuela Guillen

You know, I do want to always express that. Like when I make art, it really did start from a place of like healing for me, like to cope with the hardships I went through growing up and the environments I had growing up and the things I saw in my community. And, you know, it's been hard like my childhood has been hard.

00;30;34;23 - 00;31;05;24

Manuela Guillen

And, and also even more seeing people from our community, people from marginalized communities like constantly being targeted and that can take a toll on your mental health. And I made this work as a form of healing and or to uplift us, keep us going. But also it definitely does create a space to for people who may not go through the same things, but they may understand maybe a little if they are open to understanding because the way I make my art is super soft and intimate and it's like very inviting.

00;31;06;04 - 00;31;28;29

Manuela Guillen

And I find that people don't even realize it's political until like they really take a moment to look or like the caption or read the artist statement or or read the message. If I write a message on the art had roommates years ago who their friends messaged me and we're like, Hey, I never cared about this stuff until I started, like looking at your work or I never noticed.

00;31;29;08 - 00;31;31;16

Manuela Guillen

Like, I was like, Oh, wow, it's working.

00;31;31;17 - 00;31;53;29

Fabiola Lara

That's the thing. Like, I feel like when you make art, the art is so personal to you that you kind of assume everyone's kind of in the same headspace. You know, like what, you know, seems universal. And then, then there's people, like, who have no contact with the topics that you're covering. And it really, like, blows their mind and expands like, their horizons.

00;31;53;29 - 00;32;14;10

Fabiola Lara

But sometimes you don't know that because everyone around you kind of is similar to you. There's definitely a warmth to your work, and I definitely see what you're saying about it being like in writing, but then like throw in a message, you know, that has more depth to it, just to like make it more powerful Can you tell me about like any projects that you have in the works?

00;32;14;17 - 00;32;49;05

Manuela Guillen

So the work I have coming up is with neural arts and reading captain, and I'm working with Reading Captain with an organization to encourage reading within families and kids especially at a young age. And I've met with a bunch of reading captain folks, and I hung out in South Philly and talked to a bunch of families and are it's like they offered me a billboard to make a piece of art inspired by the reading Captain People and the community of South Philly.

00;32;49;05 - 00;32;56;17

Manuela Guillen

I'm excited because it's on Ninth Street on Ninth and Washington. So have you been to that area? Have you been to that area near Italian, the Italian market?

00;32;56;17 - 00;32;58;08

Fabiola Lara

Yes, I lived in the Italian market.

00;32;58;17 - 00;33;09;18

Manuela Guillen

Italian market there, but like near Ninth. And Washington is a strong Central American Mexican community like South Philly Barbacoa. Barco was there, and there's a lot of places you can buy.

00;33;09;18 - 00;33;14;26

Fabiola Lara

Like, yeah, it's called the Italian market, but there's so much like Central American influences there.

00;33;15;00 - 00;33;34;21

Manuela Guillen

So it's in that area. But it's interesting because you walk just one block over it's like the Vietnamese community is right there. So my piece is inspired a little bit by both. And I love where the billboard is. It's literally above a Mexican American grocery store, but it's mostly Mexican, like grocery store stuff. The billboards right above that.

00;33;34;21 - 00;33;38;07

Manuela Guillen

It's like a little Guadalupe in everything, like mural already below.

00;33;38;07 - 00;33;41;08

Fabiola Lara

Oh, my gosh. I can't wait to see that. That's going to be awesome.

00;33;41;08 - 00;33;46;00

Manuela Guillen

It's going to be fun. It's a fun one. I mean, I'm so honored that I get to be a part of this.

00;33;46;16 - 00;33;54;22

Fabiola Lara

Are there any new mediums like this, murals, like totally new for you? Are there any other new mediums you'd like to try out that you haven't had a chance to yet?

00;33;55;05 - 00;34;07;11

Manuela Guillen

So I'm currently trying to get into like screen printing and printmaking again. I mean, like, I did it in college. I took some classes for like that. I stopped for a year. So it's not new.

00;34;07;17 - 00;34;09;15

Fabiola Lara

But it's something that you want to try out again.

00;34;09;19 - 00;34;27;04

Manuela Guillen

So that's one I decided to get into embroidery and this is just me trying to reconnect with my Salvadorian culture. But when I was a kid, I had all these dresses with these beautiful embroidered like birds and flowers on my dresses, and I kind of want to make pieces for myself. This is personal taste is not going to go out anywhere.

00;34;27;04 - 00;34;44;16

Manuela Guillen

I'm not selling it. It's it's for me. I know that's normally rooted in like indigenous culture. My mom and I recently had a conversation, like my mom, mom, my grandma, who I've never met she passed away, but she's indigenous, indigenous El Salvador. Like she lived off the land and everything, and I never got to meet her, you know?

00;34;44;16 - 00;34;51;01

Manuela Guillen

But I don't know, I kind of want to feel closer to that part of my identity and my heritage.

00;34;51;11 - 00;35;12;18

Fabiola Lara

Any points of entry to reconnect with your culture are just so special, you know, like, even if it's as like as simple, I guess, as, like, let me try embroidery because, like, that reminds me of my dresses. It reminds me of like, the culture in general. Like, that's awesome. Do you have any dream projects? Like, if you could do anything with your artwork, what would it be?

00;35;13;05 - 00;35;16;01

Manuela Guillen

I always wanted to paint a huge mural.

00;35;16;02 - 00;35;22;19

Fabiola Lara

Oh, cool, cool. Yeah. Because you have plenty of experience with murals, but have you not work on that large of a scale yet?

00;35;22;29 - 00;35;32;03

Manuela Guillen

No. Two stories is the biggest I've ever done. I'm dreaming up. I'm allowed to. I feel I get to be a professional, like get these fancy equipment.

00;35;32;07 - 00;35;43;17

Fabiola Lara

That's one of those things where it's like a I was trying like a random insurance thing. Like for two days, you have to get, like, insurance or something, you know, or whoever commissions you in this dream reality does it for you.

00;35;43;25 - 00;35;55;28

Manuela Guillen

Yeah. And another one that this one's definitely like a dream where, like, me just really dream. And if I could do a project, I would love to, like, have an art piece in the PMA or something, like a nice gallery.

00;35;56;22 - 00;36;00;08

Fabiola Lara

How can people support you and your work these days?

00;36;00;21 - 00;36;22;20

Manuela Guillen

So way to support me. I do have an online shop. You can go to laser beam out there. Dot com, my so prints and stickers and some original paintings. I mean, definitely supporting me by following my journey can follow me on all my social media platforms, which is amazing. I think.

00;36;23;05 - 00;36;40;17

Fabiola Lara

So. Thank you so much for chatting with me today. I feel like we just scratched the surface of all of your artistic work. There's so much more to it. But we had such a good chat about like growing up in Miami and then moving to like white suburbs that I feel like we could cut, you know, cut that.

00;36;40;17 - 00;36;56;22

Fabiola Lara

Sure. There's so much in there, so we'll have to do a part two some time. Talk more about your work but in the meantime, everyone can go check out what you're doing on your Instagram, which I'll link in the show notes so you can go check it out. But yeah, thank you so much for your time, Angela. I really appreciate.

00;36;56;22 - 00;36;58;08

Manuela Guillen

It. Thank you so much for having me.

00;37;02;04 - 00;37;25;03

Fabiola Lara

Oh, okay. Friends, thank you for listening to this conversation with Manuela. If you want to see more of her work, follow her on Instagram at @LazyBeamArte. As always, I'm going to leave all her social links below so you can go ahead and check her out. If you're looking to get organized, listeners of the podcast can get a free and dated weekly and monthly planner inspired by the show by using the link in our show notes or going to DrawsInSpanish.com

00;37;25;14 - 00;37;43;18

Fabiola Lara

If there's a Latinx visual artist base in the U.S. that you think I should speak to on the show, go ahead and nominate them by going to DrawsInSpanish.com/Nominate. There's no shame in nominating yourself, by the way. Just go for it anyway. Remember to hit subscribe so you don't miss the next episode of Draws in Spanish. Gracias y chauuu