Marla Cruz Linares
Marla, your work has been showcased in various international exhibitions and you’ve received accolades such as the Merit Award at the iJUNGLE Illustration Awards in 2022. Can you share some insights into how these experiences have influenced your artistic journey and the evolution of your style? Winning awards or recognition does not directly influence or modify how I do my work. Still, it does push me to create more. It has helped me gain confidence and has forced me to be more and more daring in presenting my work to the world. Coming from a small island like Cuba, it was a big challenge to work with clients worldwide, and these awards have helped me to spread my art and expand my horizons.
Your vibrant, colorful, upbeat, and vintage inspired style is a distinctive feature of your illustrations. How do you approach the process of infusing positivity into your work, and how important is it for you to convey a positive message through your illustrations? Yes, I have reached a point where I am comfortable working with a color palette and a visual language that, despite having a nostalgic tone, generates an aura of serenity and well-being thanks to its warmth and textures. I adore doing illustrations that celebrate strong female characters, body acceptance, and diversity. Also, capturing emotional relationships between characters is a representative element of my work. That people connect, get emotional, or recognize moods in my illustrations is a positive message. If people find calm and enjoy looking at them, it means to me that the work has been worthwhile.
Diversity and inclusivity are values you emphasize in your work. How do you ensure that your illustrations are accessible to a wide audience, and how does this commitment to inclusivity impact your creative decision-making? I like to use figurative representations in my illustrations to explore a variety of matters, including interpersonal, emotional, and abstract ideas. We all have defects and different things that matter to us and shape us as individuals. My creative spirit is fueled by the rich diversity of people and life experiences that inspire me. The illustrators could be social commentators. A good illustration goes beyond the written content, which invites the viewer to think about the past, the present, and the future. Art can appeal to everyone, regardless of race, nationality, or political preferences. It has the power to create and communicate emotions, moods, stories, and ideas. Indeed, these are elements that, when applied thoughtfully and conceptually, enable me to communicate to a broader audience as an illustrator.
You have a background in both editorial design and illustration. How do these two facets of your creative expression complement each other, and do you find that one influences the other in significant ways? Illustration is always a component of design projects to convey a message that is both appealing and compelling. My background in editorial design gives me a visual mindset that facilitates communication. Furthermore, I seek to bring a certain dose of “emotion” to the logical representation of graphic forms through more fluid and expressive features. It is a way of combining the rational and the emotional. My illustrations are strongly influenced by my design knowledge, such as the combination of colors and integration with typography or composition in space. It’s something I can’t and don’t want to let go of. The best part is when I have the freedom to be my own creative director and explore my choices in both areas. It’s a two-way street.
Nature and yoga seem to be important aspects of your life outside of illustration. How do these personal interests find their way into your creative process? Do they serve as sources of inspiration, and if so, how do they manifest in your artwork? Working on my physical and mental health has become more important to me in recent years, and I’ve learned to value it. My body and mind are calmed by exercising, doing yoga and meditation, spending time in nature, making thoughtful decisions in my relationships, and enjoying music, books, or tasty dishes. Certainly, my ideas tend to blossom much more freely. Then, you can see in my work how much I love plants or enjoy illustrating gastronomic themes. Combining “what you like” with “what you have to do” is very pleasant.
