Kilia Llano on Working with Community, Sketchbooks, and Following Your Own Voice - Ep 04
ON THIS EPISODE
This week on First Coat we have Kilia Llano, an artist based in the Dominican Republic. Kilia has done many murals around the world and for various art festivals and mural residencies including Voz de Vida in Columbia, Graniti Murales in Italy, and Beyond Walls in Massachusetts. She recently had a retrospective and is working on a community-based mural project. I spoke with Kilia about how she finally started doing murals in the street, how her Taíno and African roots influence her artwork, and what it’s like being a mom and an artist. You’ll learn about her sketchbook practice, how she works with youth to create murals, and her advice to follow your own voice.
Read the full transcript here.
This interview was recorded in June 2020.
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LINKS
Kilia’s Mural at La Colada in DC
One of Kilia’s community mural projects, Muralizar La Frontera
Kilia’s mural for Beyond Walls in Lynn, Massachusettes
Kilia’s retrospective, Aún recuerdo at Monumento a Montesino. Read a review by Listin Diario here.
Guest | Kilia Llano, Artist
Kilia Llano is a fine artist, muralist, illustrator and art teacher. She was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1972. She studied Fine Arts and Illustration at Altos De Chavón School Of Design (1992) and also got a bachelor degree in Fine Arts and Illustration at Parsons School Of Design (1994), NY among others minor studies at Universitat De Barcelona (Art History) and Unibe University (Art Education) at Santo Domingo. She’s participated in several collective art shows and also five solo shows at Santo Domingo, Barcelona and Miami (Art Basel 2017); She’s worked with other fellows artists doing urban art at the streets of several cities and small communities in the Dominican Republic since 2012, where she’s done about 25 murals. She’s also participated as international guest artist at the Art festival “Voz de Vida” at the city of Pasto, Colombia, resident artist at Graniti Murales at Sicily, Italy and has done around 20 commissioned murals at the DR. In August 2018 she was, among other urban artists, invited to participate at Beyond Walls Lynn, in Boston, MA. She recently finished a huge project at the border of Dominican Republic and Haiti in which she created several murals with the young artist from communities in need.
Follow Kilia on Instagram (@kiliallano, #kiliallano) and check out her website. You can also find her on Facebook and LinkedIn.
Your Host | Stephanie Echeveste, CEO & Founder of Distill Creative
Stephanie Echeveste is an artist and art consultant based in Brooklyn, NYC.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram (@distillcreative or @stephanie_eche), Twitter (@stephanie_eche), YouTube (Distill Creative), LinkedIn, and check out her art website.
Support First Coat by backing us on our Patreon.
Learn more about Distill Creative’s services for real estate developers.
Are you an artist? Sign up for our Distill Directory and you’ll be considered for art commissions and future projects.
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Stephanie Echeveste 00:02
Welcome to First Coat. Where we explore public realm art, how it's made and why it matters. I'm your host Stephanie Echeveste, an artist and entrepreneur based in Brooklyn, New York. I run Distill Creative, where I curate and produce site specific art projects for real estate developers. This week on First Coat, we have Kilia Llano, an artist based in the Dominican Republic. She has done many murals around the world and for various art festivals and mural residencies including Voz de Vida in Colombia, Graniti Murales in Italy and Beyond Walls in Massachusetts. She recently had a retrospective and is working on a community based mural project. I spoke with Kilia about how she finally started doing murals in the street, how her Taíno and African roots influence her artwork, and what it's like being a mom and an artist. You'll learn about her sketchbook practice, how she works with youth to create murals, and her advice to follow your own voice. Here's our conversation.
Stephanie Echeveste 00:51
It's so nice to connect. I was so excited that you were available.
Kilia Llano 00:54
Thank you. No, thank you. Thank you. I really appreciate it.
Stephanie Echeveste 00:58
Can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Kilia Llano 01:01
I'm Kilia Llano, I'm a visual artist from Dominican Republic. I paint, I make murals, I make illustrations, I'm an art teacher, too. I really like my job as an art teacher, I work with, especially teens, sometimes kids but I really like teens. It's been like 18 years that I've been teaching. You know, making murals came late. It's been like seven years that I'm painting murals in the streets, and also I have clients, you know, make commissions and all of that. But I love the street. I love painting in the street, and in my country where education is not good, it's not available for everyone. Not everyone has the chance to, you know, to really educate themselves, the only contact that they have with art is urban art, and that's what I really like about it. I like the idea of making people close to art, so that looking at art could be something common for them, and so they can appreciate it, they can learn, they can, you know, expand their knowledge about art, especially when I go to neighborhoods that are very, very poor or communities. For example, I did this project lately, which is my beautiful project because I'm very proud of it. It's a project called Muralizar Quisqueya. Quisqueya is the Taíno name for the island. And the project is about making murals, everywhere in the whole island, not only Dominican Republic, I want to go to Haiti, too. I started in the border between Haiti and Dominican Republic. I work there in five different communities making murals, but also teaching art to the kids and teens of the area, which were Dominicans and kids from Haiti too because they're all mixed. And it was amazing. It was so beautiful that I mean, it was and that was, it was just the beginning, because now I want to go to the north of the island and then I go south, and you know, I'm gonna be moving. It's a very ambitious project. You know, I know, it will take me, I don't know, maybe three or five years, but I think it's worth it. I think that I'm doing something that can, I don't know, making my contribution to the world to the people that need that because they don't, we don't have art school, we don't have anything in the border. The border, you can't even imagine how poor it is, they don't have art school. I mean, there are a lot of kids, they love to paint. It was so amazing for them, you know, like, they were like, 'oh my god, this is the first time I touch paint'. And I was like, oh my god and I really want to keep doing that. You know, I really want to finish the project, even though it takes me five years or six years, you know, if I can do it, I'm going to do it. They need that. They need to be in touch with art, especially kids and teens, you know, they're the future. So I think as an artist, I feel that I have a responsibility with my community and my country. That's mostly what I'm doing right now, but you know, I've been traveling and doing murals also, you know, in other places, I was in DC in March, I was in Sicily about two years ago, then I went to Spain, then I went to Colombia, and I've been moving around. You know, every- and maybe in a few months, I'll be going to Trinidad Tobago, which is another island in the Caribbean and here in the Dominican Republic, I'm gonna be you know, painting. I'm going to Puerto Rico maybe in a few months, also, depends on how COVID-19, you know, if it lets me. Mostly, that's all I do, teach, make art, make murals.
Stephanie Echeveste 04:58
With this project you're doing, how are you having basically the local community help you paint it? Or do you come up with the design beforehand? Or what's that process like?
Kilia Llano 05:08
Well, what I do is this. First I teach. I make, you know, workshops and stuff, I teach them, how, you know, I teach them how I work, how I start with the idea, how to make a sketch, how to combine different elements in the sketch, and then how to, you know, go to the wall, make the drawing, and then paint. But what I did was, I teach them, I had these workshops first, but then after that, I arranged a wall for them beside my wall, so they can watch me painting. And I'm teaching them at the same time, because I'm always, you know, telling them tips and everything, but they see me working. And when they see me working, I think they learn more. And I paint beside them, just I always try to find a space that I can have two walls, one for me, one for them, and then my wall, they help me too, it's not that they don't only work on the wall, but also they help me, and we have all this, you know, going on thing, you know, we spend five, six day one week, two weeks, maybe working, and it's great. Kids, you know, they- and the beautiful part about it was that when I went back to those communities that I was working in last year, all the kids that are, you know, that I had with me painting, they were all painting. They found a way to find paint, and also a lot of you know, like people like local people that had the money, they were buying paints and everything so they can keep painting. And not all of them, but at least the group of kids that were really interested in art, you know. So the impact, I think, you know, it was beautiful, it is beautiful.
Stephanie Echeveste 07:07
That's amazing. I love that it's both the teaching aspect, but also the doing. You're not just teaching them in a classroom, this is art and, you know, this is how to do it, but you're actually getting them out and then they get to see something in their community that's just up forever hopefully.
Kilia Llano 07:20
Wow. And they feel so proud. You can imagine they're like, 'oh my god, I'm so proud, this is my mural', you know, and it was, it is a beautiful experience. I like working with communities. I think urban art, it's more, it has more meaning when you work with communities, you know, especially if you work with kids and teens. And I don't know, I feel like that not all of you know, all the artists I know they like to work, sometimes, you know, they like to work by themselves alone. But I like to work with communities, I like to have, you know, have that kind of close relation with them, and they take care of you, they're like, all the time, 'oh the artist!' you know, and they're looking for things for you. When I was painting I remember everybody was, you know, used to bring me coffee and water and food, and you know, it's so beautiful. It's such a nice experience.
Stephanie Echeveste 08:18
Do you remember what the first thing was that you created? Whether it was art or something else?
Kilia Llano 08:25
Well, when I was young, like I don't know, maybe seven or eight. I was very young. I remember that part. I used to make dolls, paper dolls. I was so obsessed. My mom told me that she used to buy me crayons and you know, colored pencil and everything else and like a month after I was like I don't have any you know, I spend it all you know, she was like, ‘oh my god’, because I was painting and drawing all the time making all these beautiful paper dolls with all their you know, the clothes, and a whole you know, a bunch of them. My mom told me that I had boxes and boxes and boxes full of paper, you know, paper dolls. And then after that I started drawing, she put me in my first class, painting class, I think I was eight, something like that. So since I was very, very young, I knew I wanted to be an artist. And my mom knew that too. So she you know, I was lucky because my mom understood me always and she always tried to find a way to, even though if they didn't have you know enough money she always found the way to put me in classes and buy me stuff, supplies and everything, and I always had the support of my family so I think that was crucial for me, it was, I think it was my base, you know, something that kept me moving into what I wanted to do. Which, you know, not everyone, not everyone can say, you know, they had that support, I did have it and I always from, you know, I'm all my memories, I'm always, you know doing art, drawing, painting, cutting, making. I remember every box, empty box that I found in my house I always was doing something like a house or hospital or a whole city once, my mom told me that once she got home and she found my room, I had this, a whole city and I was making jokes that I was making New York City. And years later, I went to college in New York City. So, I think it was a premonition.
Stephanie Echeveste 10:48
And then when did you go back to the Dominican Republic?
Kilia Llano 10:52
Well, I, let me see I came back because I went to New York, I went to Parsons there when I graduated, I stayed like a year after, year more? Yeah, a year. And then I went to Spain, I was in Spain in Barcelona for three years and a half, and then I came back here, almost the end of the 90's, I think it was 1999 or something like that. And then I'll you know, just say here, I started painting murals in 2013. I always wanted to, I mean, I remember when I met Banksy's work for the first time, I was so excited. I was like, 'oh my god, I want to do that, that is so cool, working the street', you know, and but I, I don't know, I didn't, I couldn't get, you know, take the final decision to go out in the street in paint. And I got sick, I got sick, I had a tumor in my head. It wasn't cancer or anything like that, but it was big, and it was affecting me in different ways, and I was very ill and then I had my head operation in 2012. After I passed all of that, I decided that anything that I wanted to do, I was going to do it. And the first thing I did was to find out, you know, who was painting in the street, like what, who, you know, artists that paint, you know that were painting in the street to ask them how I could, you know, go out and see if I could go out with them to the street. And I have a friend of mine, he's a very good artist here, he gave me that chance. He invited me to paint with him and that was the beginning of all these explosions. And right now I've done, I don't know, more than 50 or 60 murals.
Stephanie Echeveste 12:46
Wow.
Kilia Llano 12:47
So, so yes, that's kind of my, my story. In the street.
Stephanie Echeveste 12:56
What's your favorite type of wall to work on? And what kind of medium do you use on the wall?
Kilia Llano 13:03
Well, I like bricks. I like that kind of bricks wall because it makes the painting look like- that texture that the brick has, I really like that. And I paint with acrylic paint, I use brushes and stuff like that, I don't- I try to use, you know, spray paint, but even though I like it, it's not really my thing. I really like brushes, I feel happy with brushes, brushes. And that's the way I like to paint, you know, I paint in a very realistic way, so I feel that the brushes give me more control when I'm painting so I can do, really work what I want to do. That's my medium. But I'm open, I've done stencil once, I've done like two murals that I use stencil, and it's really, really nice, but I really like painting with acrylic.
Stephanie Echeveste 14:03
Do you do layers to build up your paintings? Or how do you work on the wall?
Kilia Llano 14:08
Well, depends on the size. If I'm making a huge wall, like the one I did, my biggest wall is in Lynn in Boston, I went to Beyond Walls, they invited me in 2018, and for that one, I had to do it with layers, but it's not usually the way I work. The way I work is I make the design, I make the drawing, and if I start with the head, until the head is not finished, I don't move around. You know I usually work like that. I like to work like that. I know that you spend more time but I really would like to work like that. But when the walls are big, you know, you need to work in layers because if not, you take forever to finish and when you have a deadline you're not, you know, you need to work fast. So in that case, I do work with layers, for example, in that mural that I did in Lynn, it was, it's a woman, she's in the water she's like that, and I paint the whole body of the woman with one color and then I was putting color and then I put- and then the background I did the same thing. So I could- I made that mural in nine days, which is fast.
Stephanie Echeveste 15:25
Nine?
Kilia Llano 15:26
Nine days, yes. Yeah, that was fast.
Stephanie Echeveste 15:30
Your work is so detailed. There's- it looks like an oil painting on the wall. It's really impressive.
Kilia Llano 15:38
Yeah, well, I try to, I like that- even though I really like contemporary art and I like a lot of different styles, I admire so many different artists that work abstract or, or you know, more realistic or whatever. I, my work, I'm more, I don't like to say classical because it's not really, some people say 'oh, that's' you know, 'super realistic' or something. It's not, actually because if you get close, you can see all the marks that I leave with a brush. If you ask me which style is more my, you know, looks more like me, I would say impressionism. I love Van Gogh. I love Van Gogh. I love him. I love his work. I think he was a great artist, he's one of the, for me one of the greatest artists. I think art passed a point before him and after him. And the way he painted with all the, you know, all the, I don't know how to say that.
Stephanie Echeveste 16:40
The dots?
Kilia Llano 16:41
Yeah.
Stephanie Echeveste 16:41
The points? Like pointillism.
Kilia Llano 16:44
You know, and because that's really the way I paint, when I paint, I don't really think about the subject that I'm painting. When I'm painting, I think about color, I think about marks like, 'okay, this is this color, this is this color, this is this color', I think only color. And I put the colors the same way I see them, you know, in my sketch, and that's what I do. And when I'm painting for example, I don't mix color, I'd rather buy- instead of buying gallons and a lot of paint, I like to buy small cups. And what I do is I use my brush like that. And I'm always mixing on the wall and my friends, when I paint with my friends, they were like, 'you're crazy, you're gonna mix that color 25 times?' and I'm like, 'yeah, I don't mind'. But, you know, it's the way I paint, it’s something that I don't plan, I just do it, you know, and I enjoy it, which is for me, I can’t do anything in my life if I don't enjoy it. I think you need to enjoy what you do. If you don't enjoy it, you know, it's- what's the purpose?
Stephanie Echeveste 17:54
Do you keep a sketchbook?
Kilia Llano 17:56
Yeah, I have plenty of sketchbooks.
Stephanie Echeveste 17:59
Can you tell me about your- like how, what do you sketch and how? What's your favorite sketchbook?
Kilia Llano 18:05
I can show you my last one. Let me show you, I started this one. I have two, actually because I have this one. This one is, when I travel for me it's better because this is small. And I do- I don't know if you can see it. Whatever I think in like, for example that, I went to the museum, to the Prado Museum in Madrid, and all the paintings that I did, I, you know, I was making drawings, and all of that. I love to go to the museum. That was when I went to Amsterdam, I went to Van Gogh museum. So I made that drawing when I got out of the- you know, I like to work with ink when I work in my sketchbook. You see?
Stephanie Echeveste 18:57
Do you use a brush with ink? Or just pen?
Kilia Llano 19:01
I use both. Sometimes I use brush, sometimes I use paint. This is my last, but I was- that one. I was working on that one when I was now stuck in Miami. And, for example, that's the feeling I got when I was quarantined.
Stephanie Echeveste 19:21
Wow.
Kilia Llano 19:21
That's what I want. I wanted to go-when I was in my quarantine there and I was alone, I had moments that the only thing that could make me feel better was when I was working my sketchbook and I tried to express all the feelings I had inside and it was great because it made me feel like- for example that's another one I did, see, that was a bad day.
Stephanie Echeveste 19:57
Are you using watercolor in there?
Kilia Llano 19:59
Watercolor. Usually I work with watercolor. When I work in my sketchbook I work with watercolor, colored pencils, I like Prismacolor. I really like them. And sometimes markers too, it depends on what I have, but usually I work with watercolor when I work in my sketchbook. I use this watercolor that are like, it's not a typical watercolor they're, mostly like paint or something and it's good because it depends on how, you know, how much water you put in it. You can take like light or you can use it very, you know, dense. So I really like that. And I like ink. I love ink. I love ink. It's so beautiful. When I- I think ink makes my sketches more strong, more expressive, more, I don't know how to explain it, but I really like it.
Stephanie Echeveste 20:52
Like a nice strong black. I love ink, I- sometimes I think ‘oh, I'm gonna try not to use it’, and then I'm like, no, it's missing something if it’s not there.
Kilia Llano 21:02
I know, I know, it's impossible because it's so cool, ink. It's so- it depends on how you use it. You can get so many different feelings in your work. You know? I really like it. I'm always drawing every day.
Stephanie Echeveste 21:16
How do you balance your fine art practice with your public art practice and teaching and just project based work?
Kilia Llano 21:24
I get crazy sometimes, I have so many things to do sometimes, I'm like ahh! But, well, I try to combine it. I try to combine it as good as I can, you know, right now for example, I'm on vacation, I'm not teaching so it's good because I can spend all my time drawing, painting, and next month, I'm going to have my first mural after the quarantine. I was waiting to see how everything was going to turn out before I went out to the street. So, I think next month, I'm going to make my first mural. But, I try to combine my days, you know, if I have to teach, well, I- usually I don't teach that many hours during the week, so I can combine my teaching with my murals. And if I can- if I have to go to a place for a week or two weeks, then what I do is I have a substitute and, you know, teach my classes and I can go and paint murals and all of that. I try to manage myself, but sometimes I get crazy, it gets very crazy. And I get so, so tired, and I'm like ‘I'm not gonna paint for a month!’ But it's not true. I paint the next day or the next two days I'm painting.
Stephanie Echeveste 22:43
What kind of paint do you do when you're not working on walls?
Kilia Llano 22:46
Well, actually I have one here. I don't know if you can see it. That's the kind of paint, you know, that one. Well, last year I had this exhibition, it was my first retrospective. And, because- so I had 25 years of art career, so I wanted to celebrate that. So, I made this huge exhibition and the fine art part, what I did, I did this- see, this- it was called The Four Elements. I work with the four elements, how the four elements affect our human emotions and our human body. For example, this painting behind me, it's up, it's part of the series Cold Water. And I really like to paint, I really like portraits. If you see my work...
Stephanie Echeveste 23:37
Yeah, I can tell.
Kilia Llano 23:39
You can tell. And I like, you know, how a portrait can express so much, and especially with water what I, you know, how water can- because water is one of the best themes for me because I really like it. I really like how water affects our body, our skin, but also how it affects our emotion as human beings and the relation with the water. And, also I- well last year in that exhibition, I also worked with air, air and fire. And for air I did this installation outside of the gallery. The gallery was in front of the sea so it had a lot of breeze going on, and I made this huge, I don't know how to call it, you know when you wash the clothes and you put it outside. That’s very typical in the islands, you know, we wash the clothes and we put it outside and you know, all together, you know? So I did this huge installation with portraits done in sheets that people donated to me and I did these huge portraits and I put it outside of the gallery so the wind could move all the time, and that was air. And for fire, what I did was I made photographs of people that wanted to, you know, be models for me. And I made pictures, I project- with my projector, I projected fire on their skin to see the color, how their skin changed the color, and that's what I painted and that was fire. And I did all these scenarios, it was great. I really liked that exhibition. I really liked the work, how, you know, it came out. And right now I'm working with portraits, but I'm working on another theme related to water, but not only water. You'll see.
Stephanie Echeveste 25:36
Do you have the exhibition, is it on your website? Or do you have photos of it somewhere? I’d love to link to it.
Stephanie Echeveste 25:43
In my website, not very much, but in my Instagram. In my Instagram I have plenty of pictures of- because I, the exhibition has had three parts. One part was the, you know, the fine art part, which you know, I worked with the four elements, and then I had the illustration part, also, because I'm an illustrator. Actually, I graduated from illustration in Parsons, you know, I’ve always done illustration for children's book, for newspaper, magazines, and all of that, so that was another part of the exhibition. And then I had the part, the urban part and murals part. And what I did was I print my best, what I thought were my best murals, I make huge prints on fabric, and I put those in the exhibition. So I had the three, those are the three most, you know, most important part of my career.
Stephanie Echeveste 26:08
Is the painting behind you- what medium is that?
Kilia Llano 26:49
Acrylic.
Stephanie Echeveste 26:50
Acrylic? Do you normally work with acrylic?
Kilia Llano 26:52
Yeah, but you know what, when I was in the quarantine, I took this workshop with a great artist, and I painted with oil paint, which I was, I don't know, maybe 15 or 18 years that I didn’t use it. And I was like crazy at the beginning, I was like ‘ah I hate this, ah, I can’t do this, I can’t work with this’ and all of that. But then, after- you know, because I spent like a week doing a painting. And after that, now I'm in love with oil paint, now I want to change. But I need time, I need time because when you make, when you get used to a, with a technique with a material, it's hard to change. Because you, maybe because you get into your comfort, you know, zone and everything, but I think it's hard, but you have to, you have to change, you know, it's good. It's not bad for me. So, I bought all these oil painting and I'm starting to work on oil paint, and I want- the next serious I'm gonna make, I'm gonna make it with oil paint. So let's see how it goes.
Stephanie Echeveste 27:59
That's so exciting. I've been taking a workshop for acrylic painting. It's, I mean, the acrylic painting part is kind of secondary. It's more about character development. But I've been hating everything I've been doing because I'm used to working with oils. And I'm not really a painter either, I normally do textile work. So like weaving and fiber art. So I finally, I love working with oils. And now with acrylic, I'm like- it's so true, you just have to keep doing it because you're used to something else.
Kilia Llano 28:30
Exactly, exactly. The main problem that acrylic has is that it gets dry too fast.
Stephanie Echeveste 28:36
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm running into. I'm looking at things to make it last longer, but it's just, there's something about oil, where I love just being able to manipulate and continue working the paint.
Kilia Llano 28:47
Yeah, yeah.
Stephanie Echeveste 28:48
And the color, I like mixing colors with oil, and with acrylic it's just, it's just different. It's just, it's just a totally different thing. You know?
Kilia Llano 28:56
Yeah, it's so different, it is, I agree. But I think it's practice, you know, for me, oil painting was so difficult when I started using it. But- and it's you know, it's still, it’s difficult. But it's good because you get out of your, you know, your comfort zone and you try something different and you see how, you know materials give you, like each material has something important to give you and to teach you so you know, it's good. I think it's good.
Stephanie Echeveste 29:25
I’m so excited to see your next series now. What advice would you give someone who wants to start doing art in public space?
Kilia Llano 29:34
Do it. Yeah, because you know, you're never gonna be ready. You're never gonna be ready. I remember that was something that had really happened to me. Before I got sick, I was like, no, I'm not gonna do that. No, I can’t make that drawing that size. No, I can’t, you know, I was, I was my worst enemy. That is mainly the problem with a lot of artists. We are our worst enemy. And we, you know, we need to understand that we learn from mistakes, that if you start doing something, you're not going to do it perfect. Because you're starting, you know, you need practice, you need experience, you know, like, right now, what I used to, you know, a wall that I made now, in two days, it used to take me two weeks or one week, you know, and it's because I have practice now, you know, so if you want to go out and paint in the street, I think that you just need to do it, and do whatever you feel like doing. Do whatever you feel that you need to do. Look for your own voice. Because there are a lot of artists outside a lot of- and great artists, you know, and if you start looking to all those artists, you're not going to be happy with what you do. You need to be happy with yourself, with your voice, because it's your voice that is going to be there. And that's mostly, you know, mainly, that's what I do, I try to do something that inspires me, and I do it my way. You know, like when I was telling you before the way I paint that some artists tell me ‘oh, you're crazy’ and I'm like, that's the way I work. That's the way I like. I feel, you know, great doing it, why am I, why am I going to change? You know, so I think that's the most important part to feel good about what you're doing and understand that when you, you know, go out to the street, maybe your first two or three murals, they're not going to be as good as you wish, but you're going to be learning and, you know, after a while you're going to be doing all the things you wanted to. Go out and do it.
Stephanie Echeveste 31:40
That's such good advice. Don't talk yourself out of it. What's one thing you wish you had known before you had started doing art as a career?
Kilia Llano 31:52
Hmm, let me think. Maybe when I started when I was young, to- something that I did that it really was bad for me was to compare my work, always comparing my work with somebody else's work, and you can't. You know, and thinking that if you don't do the things the way you're supposed to it’s bad, it's not, you know, you need to just do things, even though they're not as good as you think they should. You need to do it. And at that moment, I didn't do, like when I went out to college, I really liked urban art, as I told you, and I never did it, because I was afraid. I was afraid that my work, you know, it’s not going to be good, and I can’t, I'm not going to be able to do, you know, pieces that big, and blah, blah, blah, and I never did it. And when I started, even though I'm doing it now, like seven years, I've been doing it, you know, I'm 47 right now, I started when I was 40.I wish somebody, you know, told me or there was a way that I knew when I was 19 or I was 20 that I just needed to go out to the street and paint, and it doesn't matter, you know, you know, how good, you just need to go and do it. And I think I lost a lot of years that I could, but you know, at least I'm doing it now. So that's the only thing I can think of.
Stephanie Echeveste 33:29
Yeah, I feel like that's even harder now with Instagram or just everyone has everything online and it's hard to not look up- like I'm always looking up references for things but then I end up down this rabbit hole and so yeah, just not comparing yourself with other people is huge.
Kilia Llano 33:46
It’s the- I think it’s the biggest because we tend to do that, as humans we always tend to compare and it's not good, it's not good. You just need to concentrate in your, in your own stuff, your own style and your art. You know, nobody's going to know your art better than yourself.
Stephanie Echeveste 34:06
Very true.
Stephanie Echeveste 34:09
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Stephanie Echeveste 34:22
What's something you've read or listened to that's inspired you recently?
Kilia Llano 34:26
Music.
Stephanie Echeveste 34:28
Music? Anything specific?
Kilia Llano 34:30
Music and culture those are the two things that really move me in my work. Themes that I choose, they have, they always are about identity and my culture and where I come from. That's something that really moves me but lately, I've seen how music can input my emotions. I really like to listen to classical music when I'm painting but also I like electronic music, which is crazy, I know. But those are the two musics that really- it's not that they have an influence in my work directly, but in my feelings and how I feel. And I think it's important how you feel when you're working, even though your feelings has nothing to do with what you're doing, but they really do have an impact on how you work and how you feel when you're working. So, if you ask me something that I cannot live without, I could say music, for sure. I love music, I can't live without music, and I also love my culture. My culture is part of myself. I'm inspired- everything, I do, everything I think, even though there are things that I don't like about my culture, because nothing is perfect, I really feel proud of where I come from. And all my, you know, my roots, my African roots, and my Thaíno roots. Especially those two. For me, those two roots, make me what I am.
Stephanie Echeveste 36:13
Can you talk a little bit more about your African and Taíno roots? And has your relationship with your culture changed from when you were younger, to a teenager to adult? Or have you always been into it?
Kilia Llano 36:24
No, it's changed. When I was young, you know, the only idea I had was I want to get out of this country, I don't want to go, I don’t want to come back. You know, but now that I'm older, I really appreciate my roots and my African heritage and my Taíno heritage so much that everything I paint, it has to do with that. Like, all my identity part, I feel like it's so connected with Africa and my taíno, you know, part, because everything I think, everything I am, everything I do, it has to do with that. With my background, with my ancestors, you know, so, yeah, for sure. And with all this movement right now, I feel so connected. Because racists, it's not only in the States, it's everywhere, even here. Here, a lot of people are, you know, they don't treat well, people from Haiti. Have you heard about that? No? Okay, well in- okay, this is one island, and we, there are two countries share the island. The island has two countries, right, Haiti in one side, and then Dominican Republic. During the history, we didn't have that good relationship, because Haiti occupied Dominican Republic for 44 years, and all of that. And then- but the problem is right now, the racism is from Dominicans to people from Haiti, and not everyone, because, of course, in this country, 75 of people we have like black, you know, in our family and ourselves, you know, we're not white. Some people, you know, they don't treat well, people from Haiti. Haiti is a very poor country, a lot of people from Haiti come to the Dominican Republic without control. And they cross the border, and there are a lot of them here. And people are kind of angry about that, but I really hate that because, you know, Dominican people go to other places. You know, like New York, for example. You know, how many Dominicans are in New York? It’s like, yo, how can you talk about people from Haiti, if you're in the same situation in the United States, you know? And I hate that, I hate that. I think that first of all, it doesn't matter where you come from, you're humans. And you need to act like humans, you know, you need to understand that there's a lot of things that happened to the black people during history, this is not now, this come from, you know, long time ago. And it's true, it is true, it is true that there are a lot of racism and you can, maybe in the States, it's, you know, it's more, I don't know how to say, more active, kind of, but it's everywhere, everywhere is the same situation, and everywhere Black people are suffering, suffering, because they don't have the same opportunities. Because this is about opportunities. This is about how they, you know, opportunities that they don't get, because they're black. And that's it. The same thing that a lot of opportunities, you know, people from Latin America in the States, they don't get either, you know, and this is the fight of everybody in the world that are against equality, we are equals, it doesn't matter the color of your skin, it doesn't matter where you come from. We are equals and everybody has the same rights. They have the same right to receive the same education, the same everything. It has to be the same. You know, and I think brutality is an issue in the States. And it's an issue here, believe me, the police here? The police here is, they're bad. I mean, they're like, not all of them, you know, same in the States, but people are tired of it. And people are tired of, you know, police that believe that because they're, you know, they're the law, they can do whatever they want, you know, they're not. You need to talk to me like I'm a person. You know, when I was in Miami, I remember I have a cousin, she lives in the States. She's been living in the States for 30 years, and even though she speaks English, she has a lot of accent. And we were, she was, we were on our way to go to the Keys, to Key West, because I never been in the Keys. So I was like, ‘oh, I want to go to the Keys’ and she was ‘okay, I'm gonna drive you’, you know. And when we got to the Keys, there was this police control. And the man, the police guy, you know, a white police. He was like, ‘you can’t come, you can’t, turn around, turn around, you can’t, you can’t pass, you can’t pass, turn around’, I was like, ‘hey, dude’, you know, speak to me, like a person, you don't need to shout and tell me- if I cannot go in, you just have to tell me in a nice manner, lady or miss or whatever you want, I'm sorry, but you cannot go through, you need to turn around because this is closed. You know, talk to me like a person. You know, I hate that. And police are like that. And not only there, here too, they talk to you like you're a piece of shit. I'm sorry, but I have to say it.
Stephanie Echeveste 41:42
No, I agree.
Kilia Llano 41:43
And I hate that. And it’s the same problem everywhere. You know, it's not only here.
Stephanie Echeveste 41:46
Right. What do you think is the role of an artist with that context? Particularly now?
Kilia Llano 41:51
Raise our voice through our work. Like, my next mural is going to be about that. Oh, you can be sure about it. We are equal. That's- and I need people to see that message from me. Because I need to raise my voice for what I think is fair, what I think is humanity, you know? That's what I think. I think that artists have a responsibility right now to, you know, raise their voice in, you know, supporting what is right, right now. And what is right is the fight. Because we deserve the same treatment, no matter how color, you know, what's the color of your skin, or where you come from, you know? And it's not only against black people, it’s against immigrants, it's against minorities, it's against people from from Middle East, too, people from China now, you know, with all this COVID-19, all these stupid things, you know, ‘oh, you're from China’, you know, it's all- the world has to change. If we don't change, we're not going to have a future, we're not going to be happy, we're not going to live in a happy, you know, in a happy world. We need to understand that. And it's so hard for a lot of people to understand, and it's sad. And I think artists have to raise the voice against that, against that, you know, oppression and against all the injustice that we live in the world right now. Yeah, we are kind of the main characters of this movie, and we need to raise our voice and tell people you know, ‘hey, this is this is right. That's wrong’.
Stephanie Echeveste 43:42
Yeah.
Kilia Llano 43:42
I've been talking too much now.
Stephanie Echeveste 43:44
No. It's so true. And it's so nice to hear. It's like, it's not complicated, right? Like, it's not hard to understand, and it's not- there's such a clear what we should be doing, right, everyone, and yet, it's still, I think, easy for some people to just ignore it, right? Or just continue with their lives as it were, or try to rebuild, post COVID this “normalcy” again, but everything, everything needs to change. And I completely agree with you, and I think- I mean, that's part of why I'm doing this podcast, I just, I'm so sick of people not recognizing all the problems and actually changing their lives because of it, right? Like we can't continue to try and fit ourselves into the system as is because it just, it doesn't work for most people, you know?
Kilia Llano 44:34
Exactly, it's not working. So we need to change. That's part of evolution, we need to change and to understand that if you want, if we want this world to exist in the future, we need to change and not only change our, you know, how we, you know, live with other human beings but also how we treat this world, which its the only one we have, we don't have anything else. This is the only planet we have, and I think that we're not aware of that right now. We need to be aware of that, that we need to change the way we act, the way we react, the way we treat not only people but our planet. Just, it really worries me now. I mean, it really worries me the future.
Stephanie Echeveste 45:24
Do you have kids?
Kilia Llano 45:25
Yes.
Stephanie Echeveste 45:26
Can you tell me about what it's like being a mom and an artist? And any thoughts you have on that?
Kilia Llano 45:33
Well, it's, it's hard. It's hard. Actually, when my kids- well right now it's easier, because my kids are, you know, they're old. Like, my daughter is in college, she's in college in Spain, and my son is going to be 15. So, you know, they're grown up now. When they were young, I had to put my career aside for a long time, it's a sacrifice that I did in the moment, especially the first, you know, seven, eight years, because I wanted to be a full time mom, because I was, you know, I wanted to have kids, so I wanted to be a full time mom. And this kind of, you know, work you know, making murals and all that, you know, you don't have enough time to be home. So I didn't want that. So I put a stop in my career for seven, eight years to be a full time mom. And then when I started working, you know, they were old enough, just, you know, I had more time, I didn't have to be with them all the time, so it was easier. And now that they're grown up it’s more easier, because now I can you know, tell them, ‘hey, I'm going to paint a mural in whatever place and I come back in a week’, for example, and it's fine, because they're big. Now it’s different, when they're young, they want they want to be with you, hang out with you, but when they're teens, they don't want to do anything with you. So it's the perfect time for me to paint.
Stephanie Echeveste 47:09
Even though you have like the coolest job. Right?
Kilia Llano 47:12
Yeah, I have the coolest job. Yeah, it is. It is, you know. They really like art, which is good, that part I like. Especially my daughter, she loves art even though she does, she's going to be a lawyer. But she likes art, she really likes going to museums with me and all of that she likes to go to theatres and- but the brother not, they're not artists. They’re not, I mean, they don't, I don't know my son, his drawings are very good, but he says that he doesn't want to be an artist. I don't know, I let them be whatever they want to be, I just tell them that if they want to do something, make sure that it's your thing. Don't do anything because somebody wants or because you think it's popular. Do whatever you feel like you want to do. That's the only thing I want. I don't want you to be artists if you don't want to. But if you want to be artists, you have my support. You have my support whatever you want to do.
Kilia Llano 47:17
What are some resources that have helped you along the way in your art career?
Kilia Llano 48:14
Well, resources. As I told you before, I like to work with identity so I'm always reading history. Even though you go to school and you learn and all of that and blah blah blah but they don't really teach you, like for example here they don't really teach you where you come from, where, you know, about Taínos, about those African people that came, how the cultures, you know, they mix here and all these, you know, legends and all these myths and all, you know, all of that. Those are resources for me, especially myth. I'm really interested in myth. In Taíno myth and African myth and how they mix here in the island and what, you know, what happened during history in the island, and I really like that. So, always when I work I try to read, I try to look for anthropological, you know, facts and sociology and you know, everything in history. And those are my resources.
Stephanie Echeveste 49:23
Just constantly learning.
Kilia Llano 49:24
Yeah, yeah, all the time.
Stephanie Echeveste 49:28
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Stephanie Echeveste 49:41
What's a common myth about being an artist that you would like to debunk?
Kilia Llano 49:46
That we are not organized. I hate when people tell me that because it's not true. You know, we are organized we know, for example, I'm very organized, I know everything where it is, I'm really, with my paint I'm really organized. I'm always, you know, trying to arrange them by color, by this, by that and everything. You know, I know where all my stuff is. I know, you know, I don't think that- that is a myth. It's not true that we're disorganized. Some people tell me ‘oh, you're not going to be on time, because you're an artist’. Who told you that? Like, we don't have responsibility? Okay. For most of the people, artists, we don't have memory, we're not organized, we're not, we don't have responsibilities at all, we live the happy life, and we love art, and we live the hippy life all the time. And what else? I don't know, we never have money, we're broke. And I don't know, there's so many. There's so many myths, and I think that's so stupid, because if that doesn't- the way you act, it doesn't depend on your profession. It depends on yourself. I mean, if you're not an organized person, even though you study law, or you study, I don't know, economics, you're not going to be organized, because it's the way you are, you know, and so people need to understand that those, all of that, they're myths. We, I don't know, maybe artists, okay, maybe we have a lot of observation skills. Yeah, that is true. We kind of look deeper than, you know, regular people. But at the same time, we can have a lot of common sense, you know, who said that we can’t, you know? Yeah, we need to fight that all the time. Because it's something that is in the- worldwide.
Stephanie Echeveste 51:45
So many things.
Kilia Llano 51:47
Yeah, I know. It's like when you have tattoos, ‘ah, it's okay, she's an artist’. And that was, I mean, its always like that, you know, everywhere, not only here, everywhere it's the same thing.
Stephanie Echeveste 52:00
What's your biggest failure, and how did you learn from it? Or a failure, it doesn't have to be your biggest.
Kilia Llano 52:05
It's hard because some bad experiences or bad decisions that I made through my life, I don't see them as a failure, I see them as a bad experience that I learned something from it, you know. And, for example, as I told you before, I want to, I wish I could do this urban art as soon as I graduated from college, and I didn’t. And I regret that. I mean, I regret making that decision when I was 40, instead of 20, for example. That's the only thing I can say. Because the rest are experiences, good experience, bad experience, but I think you learn you learn a lot from bad experience. I think they're necessary. I don't think it's healthy when everything comes perfect. You know, you need to learn at some point, you need to learn and the only experience that leaves, like a learning on our lives, is bad experience, you know, because you learn, you know now okay, next time, I won't do this this way, or I'll change this, or I'll change that, you know. So, the only thing I regret is to take that decision when I was 40.
Stephanie Echeveste 53:23
Where can our listeners find you online?
Kilia Llano 53:26
My website which is kiliallano.com, like my name, and also my Instagram. My Instagram is where I post the most. Everything I do, I right away, as soon as I finish it, I right away post it. So I don't forget, because I'm so bad for remembering. I realized that and I live with my reality. And because of that- and but it's that, I have, usually I don't think about posting my work or using technology, so I need to make an app a habit. So I try to every time I finish something, I post it. At least on Instagram. My webpage, I update things like every three months, every four months, depends, but my Instagram is, everything I do is there.
Stephanie Echeveste 54:18
We'll link to that in the show notes so that people can find you and thank you so much for chatting with me. It's been really great to get to know you and your work.
Kilia Llano 54:27
Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity to talk about it. Okay, take care. Hugs. Bye.
Stephanie Echeveste 54:36
Thanks for listening to this episode of First Coat. If you liked this podcast, please leave a review. Make sure to subscribe to the First Coat podcast wherever you listen to podcasts. And follow us on Instagram @firstcoatpodcast or @distillcreative. First Coat is a production of my company Distill Creative. Check us out at distillcreative.com