Today we’d like to introduce you to Francesca Miguieles.
Hi Francesca, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
For sure! I am a 25 year old Chilean visual artist residing in Minnesota since 2016. I attended the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile before transferring to the Minneapolis College of Art and Design where I graduated in 2020 with a BFA in Drawing and Painting and a minor in Art History. I also did a study abroad program with Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze for a semester in Florence, Italy right before graduating.
My work is formed by my personal experience as a Queer Latina Immigrant. My pieces focus on the female nude figure and illustrate the varied emotions on how women’s bodies are perceived, consumed and affected by society. While part of my work also searches to open awareness within discourses of personal identity, the human experience and the intersection of the idea of “self” and one’s body. As a visual artist my work ranges from oil paintings, charcoal and ink drawings to photography, collaging and mixed media.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been fairly smooth?
It has its ups and downs, but overall it has been very rewarding.
It has its ups and downs, but overall it has been very rewarding.
So, to start with, I had all my artwork stolen on the move from Chile to the US. Eighteen years of work were taken away from me, and I had to start from scratch. It was hard to wrap my head around it at first, but then I saw it as an opportunity to really dig into what I wanted to do with my practice.
Most hardships for me have been related to moving countries and adjusting to a new culture while being separated from all the strong bonds that made me who I am today. It is a love-hate relationship since this big change in my life also opened doors for my practice today.
The first years living in Minnesota were the hardest to adjust to, and I found myself looking for a space I could call “home” away from home… I found that to be my own body! This is the idea that got me into making art related to the human figure. Especially the female nude figure.
I come from a conservative and traditional Latinx family and my father passed away from Multiple Sclerosis. These were also factors that subconsciously guided my art practice. Since a young age, I learned not to take my healthy body for granted but also, as a woman, how to perform on a daily basis for the eyes of men, unaware how much we are perceived and consumed daily. Deciding to pursue art working with the nude figure was a bold statement and challenging regarding my family traditions, but I saw it as an opportunity to start a conversation about unlearning patriarchal and misogynistic behaviors, empowering women and self-love.
I feel that all of this has made me be able to go about my practice with empathy, respect and love. Especially when working with other people in a very sensitive and private way.
I had already started being part of some art events here and there during my school years, and after graduating, I took it more seriously. I always knew I wanted to make a living off of my art. I had a part-time job doing Arts Administration for a small nonprofit on East Saint Paul, and by the end of the year, I realized my art was giving me more income than my part-time job!
As of this year, 2022, I decided to give it a chance and become an artist full-time. Nowadays, you can find me during weekends at different art fairs and events around the Twin Cities! As a Queer Latinx Immigrant, I am very proud of how far I’ve come, it’s beautiful to see how love and passion for myself, my community, and art can overcome any obstacles.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I do a little bit of everything!
I love working with a lot of different mediums. I started with portrait photography, then collaging and mixed media. Later, when photography was not expressive enough for me, I started doing graphite, charcoal, and ink drawings of people. Which then evolved to oil, acrylic, and gouache paintings. I also work in a lot of different sizes, from as small as 2 x 3 inch drawings to 4 x 5 feet paintings.
As I’m still getting used to making a living off of my art, it is hard not to think about monetizing your work. So I have divided my practice in two: one exclusively for selling and the other one to apply for grants and galleries.
I make most of my living off of commissions and attending art fairs and events where I sell smaller sized figure drawings and paintings, prints and pressed flowers. These are easier to transport and give people a more affordable choice. For bigger events such as juried art fairs or the MCAD Art Sale, I bring along my bigger sized oil paintings, which are more pricey and need much more caution when handling.
The other side of my work is more personal and elaborate. I have a few ongoing projects which I apply for grants and galleries with. With them I talk about community and my experience as an immigrant:
The first one is called “Mi Soberbia Juventud”, a scrapbook made out of 35mm film photography of daily moments in my life, combined with scanned pages from my journal and altered pages from La Soberbia Juventud by Chilean author Pablo Simonetti. “Mi Soberbia Juventud” looks to describe the experience of moving countries, dealing with a new culture, and the emotions and feelings that arise within. I want people to view this as a tactile embodiment of what the inside of my mind looks and feels like, experiencing what it’s like living through an interconnection of two different cultures. A narrative of a combination of various contrasting spaces, with no language barrier, about how these relationships with space and people affect my being.
The second one is “Body as Home in Conflict”. Here, I thoroughly question the interconnection of our bodies/selves in a pursuit to dismantle how personal identity is socially constructed and how different realities can have intertwined commonalities. It consists of conversing with different minorities (LGBTQ+, BIPOC, disabled people and women) willing to share their life stories and collaborate to make a book and a mixed media collage for each – exemplifying different experiences side by side. My main goal is expressing through art the examination of how identities are socially shaped, how we experience conflicts in unique ways and how within these differences we can find something that unites us all. Ultimately, I look to create a safe space for empathy and resilience in order to be able to build a better community through understanding, healing, empathy and balance.
Once I am more financially stable, I want to focus on this side of my practice more in the years to come.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role you feel it’s played for you?
I am not sure if I believe in luck as much as I believe in passion and hard work. I think that good things come from working hard for your goals, aspirations, and dreams. I believe life will bring you good opportunities only if you’re looking for them.
I have always pushed to put myself out there. Since attending college, I always bluntly asked to be part of exhibitions, submitted and organized group showcases. I talked and established relationships with my professors, classmates and art friends outside of college that led me to have a wide network of artists and opportunities. As a result, I get to meet more and more new people and my access to new opportunities has continued to grow exponentially. I started doing yard and garage sales with some friends and a few months later I found myself being part of juried art fairs and having gallery showings. The art community in the Twin Cities is really big and extremely supportive of each other. It’s all about putting yourself out there, believing in yourself and wanting to be part of something bigger, part of a community.
I believe that people love when you share what you love. So go for it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.fmiguielesart.com
- Instagram: @fmiguielesart
