Cristina Salas, a talented mixed media artist shares her amazing life and art journey. Cristina’s story is truly inspiring from her travels across different countries to her love for using all sorts of materials in her art. We’ll learn how she brings communities together through her public art projects and hear about her dreams for the future. Let’s learn more about Cristina’s mission to spread joy through art.

Before moving forward to the interview, let’s take a moment to get to know Cristina through her bio. Cristina Salas originally hails from Quito, Ecuador, born in 1985. She studied fine art at the Accademia delle Belle Arti di Firenze in Italy from 2004 to 2007, followed by a year spent in Paris, delving into drawing at the Ateliers Beaux-Arts, Glacière. Her academic journey continued with a master’s degree in Art Production from the Universidad Politècnica de Valencia in Spain in 2010. Returning to her hometown, she went on a creative path, delving into mosaic murals and fiber art garden dolls adorned with live plantings. Cristina participated in three art residencies across France, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. She has the experience of teaching artists of ceramics and drawing at the Universidad San Francisco de Quito after an engaging art workshop at Liceo Internacional School in 2013. The trajectory of her artistic pursuits led her to Louisiana State University, where she obtained a Master’s in Architecture in 2018, ultimately landing her in New York City, where she currently resides and practices as a full-time artist. Cristina has a deep connection to mixed media, embracing various mediums such as drawing, fibers, mosaics, ceramics, and paint, to convey stories and characters that inhabit spaces. Cristina’s work is inherently generous and aimed at providing viewers with a joyful experience.

1. Your journey as a mixed media artist, spanning from Italy to France, Spain, Ecuador, and eventually to New York, is truly inspiring. How have these diverse cultural experiences influenced your art style and the stories you aim to tell through your work?

My journey living in different countries has questioned my individual versus my collective identity. I like the idea that my roots will always be Ecuadorian and that my identity will keep expanding as I engage more with the world to become a citizen of planet Earth. The fact that I’m based in a global city like New York emphasizes my embrace of a mosaic identity which I enjoy. Feeling from planet Earth gives me the perspective of an understanding of the world as a living system of ecological interactions in which humans play an important role. I want to express this love for planet Earth in my art-making.

Feeling from planet Earth gives me the perspective of an understanding of the world as a living system of ecological interactions in which humans play an important role. I want to express this love for planet Earth in my art-making.

Cristina Salas

2.  Your use of various materials, from drawings and fibers to ceramics and found objects, adds a unique texture to your work. What inspired you to explore such a diverse range of mediums?

I constantly feel very creative and having the freedom to express myself with different materials excites me. It puts me in a position of play which is one of my favorite ways of being, kind of like going back to childhood. Letting myself into creative chaos it’s something I enjoy but I usually work with one material at a time and my work is organized by sections. In some ways, this helps me maintain order in my life and art practice but it is something that I have been questioning recently. How can I merge all of these techniques, what does each one mean separated and how does meaning change when they are together? How can spontaneity, creative joy, and my responsible self become one cohesive and chaotic work of art? The moments where I can bring different interests and material knowledge, is when the work feels alive and I start to make disparate connections become clear.

3.   Your involvement with public art installations, such as “The Turtle’s Garden” in Brooklyn and “Muñeca del Mar” in Puerto Rico, reflects a strong commitment to community engagement. Could you share more about the role you see artists playing in shaping public spaces and fostering connections within communities?

Artists have so much work to do because our imagination can express so many possibilities to society. I love to work in public installations because different people come together and we all forget about society’s structures that keep us separated. I dream of creating art where people are invited to participate. “The Turtle’s Garden” has not yet been, but it is in process. It has taken me a long time to figure out the right team, engineer details, and raise the necessary funds. It is a project I’m hoping to make next Spring. “Muñeca del Mar” was installed recently in Dorado, Puerto Rico and she is still changing in ways that I don’t even know. I’m hoping to receive images of the plants growing soon.

4. Your involvement with Art Lives Here and the 2022 Project Development cohort demonstrates a strong commitment to collaborative projects and community-driven initiatives. Can you speak to the importance of collaboration in your art practice and how it enriches both your work and your connection to the communities you serve?

Art Lives Here has been such an inspiring collaboration where I have been able to connect with curator Connie Lee and the artists’ members. Their public art program has helped me understand my art-making as an expansive way of being where I have pushed myself to embrace an entrepreneurial side. This experience has also helped me to share my ideas even if they are not perfect or ready because I’m sharing the process of creating. Collaboration is so important to me because sharing brings meaning to art and life. When I share I get to serve communities and I realize how important art is.

Artists have so much work to do because our imagination can express so many possibilities to society.

Cristina Salas

5.  “The Turtle’s Garden” project, slated for installation in Brooklyn, sounds incredibly exciting. Could you share more about the inspiration behind this public art installation and how you envision it impacting the local community?

In 2022 I was in a transition moment in my life, wanting to commit fully to my art-making and continue creating Living Sculptures, but I didn’t know exactly how to do that. One of my friends recommended I read the book Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer where I learned about “Skywoman” an Iroquois creation story. This story is similar to my work with “Muñeca Gardens” and it gave me a sense of purpose to continue working with plants. As well as to collaborate with artists in New York who recognize this creation story as their own. The impact I envision for this project is to highlight native planting in public spaces and the connection to the amazing Iroquois culture of New York.

6.  Congratulations on winning the Cash Prize from the Arts to Hearts Project! How does recognition like this impact your creative journey, and what do you hope to achieve with your art in the future?

This award in particular has impacted my creative journey because the online voting component pushed me to reach out to people who I haven’t connected with in a long time. Thanks to my family’s eagerness to win I connected with my Ecuadorian community. It was a very emotional process that made me feel connected to the people of my city of birth. In general, getting recognition through winning prizes has given me more confidence in my art career. I hope that I can align my social and environmental values to all the art that I do and that my art can have an impact on the way that we behave in our own lives, towards each other, and the environment around us.

As Cristina Salas continues to paint her way through life’s canvas, her commitment to art, community, and human connection shines brightly. Through her art, Cristina invites us to see the world through a kaleidoscope of colors and to celebrate the diversity that makes life so vibrant. To learn more about Cristina, click on the links provided below to visit her profile.