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Home » Quilting » Art Quilts

Spotlight: Mabelin Castellanos, Textile Artist

Spotlight: Mabelin Castellanos, Textile Artist

Art Quilts Collage Art Embroidered Quilts Spotlightby Create Whimsy

“Mabelin Castellanos is a Cuban fiber artist based in Miami. She interprets life as seen from her window, often made from scrap fabrics. Her practice is marked by self-reflection, pleasant observations, and a tender reconstructing of identity. Mabela’s body of work is a series of textile snapshots honoring the fleeting beauty in moments of life most would describe as  trivial. ” Maria Gabriela Di Giammarco, curator of the CAMP gallery.

Mabelin Castellanos with her art

When did you know you wanted to be an artist? 

In my forties and out of pain. I couldn’t get my sons out of Cuba before the conscription, I was suicidal. I enrolled in glasswork classes at the community college, and that saved me. I was a scientist at the time, but I was hooked. The opening of the kiln… to see the result of my creation gave me the same adrenaline rush as the analysis of the results after an experiment. 

What pressure do you feel as an artist? 

I don’t feel any pressure, I work compulsively every day because I feel the need to do it. 

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Street Level art by Mabelin Castellanos
Street Level

What are you saying with your art? 

Right now, I just feel the need to express the beauty I encounter on my daily walks. The sea, the vegetation, people, their interactions, all of that. 

Better with the Tie art by Mabela Mabelin Castellanos
Better with the Tie

What is it like in your studio? 

Messy. 

Last Day for the Year art by Mabela Mabelin Castellanos
Last Day for the Year

Why do you create the art that you do? 

While expecting the birth of my first granddaughter, I bought a sewing machine and taught myself how to sew to make her dolls and clothes. The fabric patterns, colors, and textures inspired me more than glass, so I started exploring the new medium, first gluing them to make collages, later quilting and piecing. Nowadays I use the technique of free-motion quilting that gives more freedom of expression.

Checking Him Out art by Mabela
Checking Him Out

Who inspires you? And why? 

The work of my many artist friends on social media. It is part of my daily routine to see their wonderful art. After a series of ischemic episodes and a nervous breakdown as a result, my career as a scientist ended, and once again the creative process saved my life. I started compulsively working on my quilted drawings. They healed me, and now I can proudly say that I am an artist. 

Everything is going to be Fine art by Mabela
Everything is going to be Fine

How did you adapt to the socially distant world? 

My mental disease has evolved into agoraphobia which is a decrease in social skills with apprehension of getting outside and socializing so the distancing did not affected me. 

She Misses Her Garden by Mabela
She Misses her Garden

Outside of your art, what is something that you are most proud of?

Getting my whole family out of Cuba. 

Habano with Absinthe art by Mabela
Habano with Absinthe

What do you do in your day when not creating? 

Walking and swimming. 

Offspring art by Mabelin Castellanos
Offspring

Lastly: tell us a story, anything, that lets readers know who you are—the person.

I am a mother, grandmother, bipolar, grapheme-color synesthetic, former scientist and artist. 

The Company You Keep art by Mabela
The Company you Keep
Womens Rights are Human Rights art by Mabelin Castellanos
Women’s Rights are Human Rights
Mabelin Castellanos quote

My art can be found: 

www.mabelincastellanos.com 
https://www.instagram.com/mabelincastellanos/
www.facebook.com/mabelin.castellanos 
bernicesteinbaum.gallery 
khawamgallery.com 
thecampgallery.com/ 
theboxgallery
https://www.artsy.net/artist/mabelin-castellanos 

Mabela in a gallery with her art

Interview posted June 2023


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