CHE LLAG I R L
SELENE COLÓN
ARTISTRY interview JORGE PEREZCHICA
Hi Selene, how’s quarantine life going? Quarantine life has been a real challenge just like it has been for everyone else. I haven’t been able to work my regular job as an afterschool program coordinator due to schools not being open. I have been really focusing on my art and just trying to make the best of it. Growing up in the Coachella Valley, did you always want to be an artist? I am so proud to have grown up in this valley. My first real painting ever was when I was 8 and it was of the mountains and desert. In middle school, I had great support from my teachers and that is when I truly identified as an artist. Throughout high school, I was known as “the art chick” and was very involved in the art scene. I was a proud recipient of art scholarships from various sponsors and organizations in the Coachella Valley and I was able to be a junior docent at the Palm Springs Art Museum.
AS A WOMAN OF COLOR, I TRY MY BEST TO BE SOCIALLY ACTIVE AND I HOPE THAT I CAN INSPIRE OTHER WOMEN TO EXPRESS THEIR VOICE, CREATIVITY, AND TALENT. — SELENE COLÓN
How did you start a career in the makeup industry? I remember my uncle helped me fall in love with the moviemaking process. I was mesmerized by the power of makeup and special effects. In school, I was always an artist, but I also had good grades and AP classes so my counselor and my parents were not so supportive of my love of art and pushed me to follow a “regular” college degree. Luckily as a sophomore in college, I switched my major to a Fine Arts Degree and took a theatrical makeup class where I discovered the magic of makeup artistry. Since then I have been certified in Makeup Artistry and I am also a licensed Cosmetologist. I’ve been lucky enough to have worked on photoshoots, fashion shows, indie films, and theatre, including the McCallum Theatre, CVRep and Dezart Performs. What keeps you inspired and motivated each day in the age of COVID? Without being able to work or do makeup, I’ve been taking it day by day, being able to create a little bit every day has been very motivating and emotionally helpful in this painful year. I also had time to re-imagine my career. I enrolled back in college to be able to add psychology to my education and pursue a career in Art Therapy. I have worked with children through the YMCA for a decade and I have found that helping middle school kids with art is a huge motivation for me. Tell us about the paintings you created most recently. This year I was finally able to sit down and paint some of the concepts I had been brewing for a while. I have conjured inspiration from my love of the moon, self-expression, and female empowerment from wonder woman to re-imagined Disney characters to the endurance of losing a loved one.
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COACHELLA MAGAZINE
portrait photography KEVIN TREJO hair VICTOR SIMMONS / makeup SELENE COLÓN
