039: Elena Cruz
Based in London, Elena Cruz is a painter and writer whose artistic vision is heavily influenced by her multicultural background as a CHamoru American.
She creates art that explores personal experiences within broader social contexts, both in her paintings and her writing. Her painting style incorporates street art and is displayed outside businesses, merging art with community engagement. In writing, she intertwines individual stories with the political and economic conditions of their time. Both mediums reflect her desire to connect with people through their surroundings.
Get It Before It's Gone
Oil, glitter, metal on wood
4 x 3 feet
2023
Elena Cruz
Cruz’s approach to art is expansive, viewing everything from daily activities to iconic artworks as forms of expression. For her, what makes art "good" is the message it conveys and who benefits from it. Her artistic choices, whether painting or writing, stem from an early passion for creativity. She began painting as a child and developed a fascination with oil paints because of their focus on color and texture. Writing has been another lifelong outlet, with her first story created at the age of three. Her art forms feel like natural extensions of her identity.
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Oil, glitter, metal on wood
70 cm x 40 cm
2023
Elena Cruz
Cruz’s academic background plays a significant role in shaping her work today. Although she didn’t formally study art, her journalism degree from the University of Missouri and master's in international political economy from King’s College London give her a deeper understanding of how individual experiences are situated within larger global systems. Her mixed heritage and personal experiences with colonialism inspire her to examine how she fits into the world through her art, allowing her to express these themes with confidence and expertise.
David and Goliath
Oil, glitter, metal on wood
18 x 90 cm
2023
Elena Cruz
Inspiration for Cruz’s work comes from a variety of sources, including her cultural roots and travels. The Palau storyboards she grew up with deeply influence her painting style, leading her to experiment with carving into oil paint. Moving to England also gave her a fresh perspective on life, infusing her work with a childlike curiosity and wonder. When she encounters creative blocks, she switches between painting and writing, allowing each medium to reignite the other, or immerses herself in new books and art shows.
I Am Rich and Famous
Oil, glitter, metal on wood
50 cm x 10 cm
2023
Elena Cruz
Cruz views artists as having an inherent responsibility to push forward meaningful messages, whether intentional or not, due to the political nature of sharing art in a marketplace-driven society. She believes diverse voices are crucial in reshaping traditional notions of beauty and power. Her advice to aspiring artists centers on staying true to oneself while remaining mindful of their impact on marginalized communities. She encourages artists to create for themselves first and not worry about external validation, as authenticity is key to producing valuable work.
“Be yourself. You will get the most interesting, unique creations — but also ones that are the most satisfying to yourself because even if no one understands it, at least you’re creating something that is true.
But also do remember to be kind and conscientious of people with less social power than you throughout, because you do have responsibility to uphold if you do become an artist. ”
If We Are All Just Flesh And Bone
Oil, glitter, metal on wood
40 x 60 cm
2023
Elena Cruz
Please introduce yourself and describe what you do.
Hi! I’m Elena Cruz, I’m an oil painter and writer working in London. I moved here a couple years ago, and I grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with CHamoru and white parents. I make art that places individual experiences within the context of social surroundings, and this looks different with my different media.
With painting, I paint images on wood and then hang them up outside of businesses as a form of collaborative, conceptual street art, where I work to uplift both my art and the business I reach out to in a fun way that attracts a new audience. With writing, I take stories of an individual and contextualise them by the political and economic workings of the time they take place.
How would you define art?
From the discussions you have with your friends to the way you cross the street to the flowers organically blooming on the sidewalk to the cafeteria chairs to the store-bought candy to the Picasso in the museum to the Cindy Sherman image to the reality TV show airing — I believe that everything is art. But then the next question is what makes ‘good’ art. And I’d argue that’s dictated by the content and messages sent within these outlets, and who’s benefitting from them, and who’s not.
Why did you choose your art form?
I’ve always had an interest in a cacophony of simultaneous things, from art to math to writing and so many instruments to make them in between, but I gravitated towards oil painting and writing immediately.
I’ve been painting as long as I can remember, taking up acrylics as an adolescent and being trained on oil as early as my education offered it, enjoying the paint’s emphasis on color and texture over line or shadow.
I wrote my first (decent) book at age 3 before I could physically write, dictating page-by-page to my mom the storyline, waiting patiently as each planned page’s content was ready for her to transcribe the page turn’s plot point. The creative acts just felt like part of me.
How does your background (education, culture, etc.) affect the artwork you make today?
I didn’t study art, and this is largely because I wanted answers. I got them, and now these studies backup what I say in my work. Having been a mixed CHamoru in Wisconsin — and facing the economic, ideological, and political ramifications that comes from colonialism — I wanted to learn more about how I fit into the world through a language I understood, when there weren’t readily available answers.
So, chaotically enough, I studied journalism as a bachelor’s at Mizzou and then international political economy as a master’s at King’s College London with the purpose of learning about the world while becoming a business of arts journalist in the long-run. Whew, that’s a mouthful. But in these degrees, I intertwined with so many interesting people’s lives as a reporter, and learned a language to identify individual experiences within complex social systems through IPE. So now, as I tell stories through the artistic media I have always truly enjoyed, I have the qualification to speak with expertise, and the comfort in myself having learned from reading how I do fit into the world as a mixed CHamoru.
Who do you idolize?
My parents truthfully. I hope that doesn’t sound tacky. But they are such strong individuals who have stayed true to themselves with an emphasis on kindness and empathy. My Dad especially being a hippie-ish CHamoru in Milwaukee, it’s inspiring to see how much comfort he has in being himself despite opposition from others who might not ever understand where he comes from. And my Grandma — she worked her way from Guam to NYU on some cool scholarship and built a life for herself on the mainland with such strength. It’s admirable. Beyond my family, though, I don’t really idolize strangers much because I figure they’re just people who are impressive, but I don’t want to hold them to some godlike stature. That feels like a pedestal we’re quick to kick them off of too.
Where do you get your inspiration?
I grew up with these Palau storyboards around my house that my grandma picked up while working throughout Micronesia for a while. This idea of wood carving inspires my painting techniques, where I carve into oil paint and let it dry to tell stories. They also inspire my writing process, where I’ll paint out a story first to comprehend it and then write the words after.
Since having traveled to England, I was able to enter a new culture, too, and I feel like I was given a toddler’s eyes, so I saw the world around me anew. That youthful appreciation (and innocence, and often times stupidity haha) has inspired me so much.
What do you do when you're stuck on an artwork or lacking motivation or inspiration?
I’ll switch media, from painting to writing and vice versa. I’ll also pick up new books and check out art shows for free around London.
What do you like incorporating most into your art?
Music! Why not add another medium here. I paint to music and move my brushes to it, and I find myself writing musically rather than in a boring repetitive quarter-note staccato fashion.
What is something that you add to your art as your signature?
Globs. Gooey gross globs. That is in the form of strange wording: ie in this book I’m writing it would be a “flingle flangling ding dong” (euphemism), and in painting it really through these globby splatters over textured and glazed indents.
Take us through your process for making art.
I have this idea build up inside of me, and chances are I don’t have time to jot it down because I’m doing something else, until it bubbles over and I have to let it out.
What do you struggle with the most when making art?
Time and money. It’s so difficult to find the resources to make art today.
What role do artists have in society?
I think if an artist shares their work in the world, their piece becomes political, just through the transactional nature of being seen within a marketplace-based society. Therefore, no matter if they want to or not, an artist’s role is to truly push a message forward, and hopefully what they perpetuate is something helpful to others who need it.
If an artist just makes art for themselves without puting it in front of others to see, then their work can be catharsis or beautiful. But if it’s for others to see, then art brings something to fruition. This is why we need diverse voices in work at least — diverse demonstration of ‘beauty’ is different from the hegemonic version. If what an unquestioned white male artist makes is just ‘beautiful’ without question or concept behind it, then it is encouraging traditional forms of beauty and establishing power hierarchies as a message, whether this is purposeful or not.
What characteristics do you think all artists share?
I think artists are courageous, creative, and curious.
What’s your favorite place in Guam?
I’m a member of the diaspora living about as far away as possible from the island, so I’ve only been once, so I hope my answer is okay. But I really loved Malojloj Falls and boonie stomping there, my first intense interaction with the sword grass my dad had told me about growing up.
How has your artwork evolved over time?
I used to paint impressionistic oil portraits on repeat; I was obsessed with the portrait, maybe because I can’t remember facial features if I’m not looking at them. As time went on, I become more true to my memory, painting scenes as I invision them in my head as silhouettes and light flashes rather than how I think I should see them. Therefore it’s become less realistic but also more authentic at the same time. With writing, too, I’ve gone from being overly dramatic in my stories to traditional, straightforward journalism, to something in between, that I think reflects the balance of my train of thought and experiences more accurately.
Why did you choose to become an artist?
I tried everything not to become an artist. I wanted to go the safer route as a journalist. But I realized it’s who I am.
Is your art geared towards a specific audience?
Just whoever’s open to it really. That’s all it takes to see it.
Do you have any tips for aspiring artists?
Be yourself. You will get the most interesting, unique creations — but also ones that are the most satisfying to yourself because even if no one understands it, at least you’re creating something that is true. But also do remember to be kind and conscientious of people with less social power than you throughout, because you do have responsibility to uphold if you do become an artist. On a similar note to the whole be-yourself-thing, don’t be so afraid what strangers think. If they don’t like your work they’re not worth it, and if they do, that’s great. Not everyone will like your work too; that’s what makes it good.
