INTERVIEW WITH MARNIA BRIONES: Your Trash, Marnia’s Treasure

TRANSCRIPT

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Hi everyone, welcome. My name is Liz Oliva Fernández, and today we are going to be speaking with Marnia Briones.

Marnia Briones is a self taught Cuban visual artist with an uncanny ability to turn discarded items into pieces of art. She turns old clothes into canvases, cigar boxes into dollhouses, and cans into wind chimes. Her art has been exhibited in Cuba, Venezuela, Spain, Italy  and the United States. But, you can also find it in marginalized neighborhoods in Havana, Cuba, such as El Fanguito.

Marnia, welcome to Belly of the Beast.

Marnia Briones:

Thank you very much.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Do you remember the first time you painted?

Marnia Briones:

Yes. I was always painting. Every kid paints…until they don’t, because people start telling them: “You can’t paint.” But I just never stopped. 

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Did they ever tell you that you couldn’t paint? 

Marnia Briones:

No. Never. I was very fortunate because when I was five or six, my parents would take me to an art studio. And I had an art teacher, Manero.

He was a well-known artist. He’s passed now, but he believed in me and encouraged my style.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

When did you start painting professionally?

Marnia Briones:

It wasn’t planned. I just kept painting and painting - as a kid, as a teenager, as a young adult.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Where would you paint?

Marnia Briones:

I started painting on paper like every kid does. And then in the 90s I started painting on our old clothes, since we didn’t have canvases.

And that turned into painting on old shirts, specifically the backs, blouses, pant bottoms. I would mount them onto small frames and paint them.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Where did that idea come from?

Marnia Briones:

I think from the scarcities.

I used what was at hand and saw if it worked. Then, I started working with cardboard and so on…

Liz Oliva Fernández:

What was happening in Cuba at the time?

Marnia Briones:

It was the beginning of the Special Period.

There were shortages of everything: food, clothing, shoes, cosmetics, and of course there weren’t any paintbrushes or paints of any kind, canvases – there was nothing.

My mom still says I stole all her clothes because there were clothes she was still using and I would take them for my art projects. But it was all good because my family really valued the arts.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Have you been able to paint on canvas?

Marnia Briones:

Yes, in 1999 I went to Madrid and lived there for a time.

And I would buy canvases and it felt boring because they came with set sizes. That made me feel a bit boxed in.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

When do you start transforming everyday items? 

Marnia Briones:

Due to the art market the sale of paintings is for the elite. And you can’t always sell them.

So I needed to find a way to generate an income from my art, otherwise I would have to stop painting. So I started to transform everything I could get my hands on: hand fans, furniture, benches, umbrellas, espadrilles, handbags. That let me get by and continue to paint.

It was an enriching experience. It was liberating because I felt I could paint anything. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m grateful for the journey because it’s made me a better artist.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

What types of objects does Marnia use in her artwork? 

Marnia Briones:

I use everything.

I started by using small ropes, twigs, fabric, and as I grew more confident I started expanding the materials I used.

The items come from my own trash and since people know I recycle items they also bring me their trash.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

How do you go from seeing something as trash to seeing it as part of your artwork? 

Marnia Briones:

It’s pure intuition and pure love towards these objects. You start to see beauty in them. And I think there’s beauty in everything. You don’t have a preconceived idea of what something will become? No. It’s just a labor of love, of seeing something I like and saying “maybe this goes with that” and I think that possibility is everywhere.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

What are five objects you use in your artwork that people usually throw away? 

Marnia Briones:

Matchboxes, glass bottles - which I turn into Argand lamps. Cans, which I use to make pendants and baby rattles.

I try to give all of my trash a second chance, a second life. I love the idea of giving things a second chance. 

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Can you tell me where that love for recycling or repurposing comes from? 

Marnia Briones:

It started really casually.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Yeah.

Marnia Briones:

In order to deal with the shortages, I used what I could find to continue to paint. And then I became more conscious of the value that using recycled materials gave my pieces.

Something that isn’t just a trend but a necessity at the moment.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

What has your experience been of raising awareness [about recycling] with your family, friends, and beyond? 

Marnia Briones:

I think you can raise awareness without even realizing it.

Over time I noticed how people would bring me their waste. I also had the opportunity to teach classes in schools and show kids how to recycle and reuse.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Given your experience, what would you say is the difference between recycling in Cuba and recycling in Europe? 

Marnia Briones:

Here we recycle because we don’t have another choice. Here everyone recycles everything.

From 60-year-old cars, your grandmother’s sewing machine, the radio, the fan that’s a thousand years old.

Here in Cuba we recycle, reuse and fix things over and over. We’re completely immersed in a culture of recycling even though we might not realize it or think it’s just due to scarcity. When you get to Europe you realize that when they talk about recycling it’s more of a trend, which is okay.

What a beautiful trend, no? But I think it would be better to not produce as much. I think that should be the goal.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Not producing waste? 

Marnia Briones:

No, not producing so much that you then have to recycle.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Okay, I got it. 

Marnia Briones:

But then the question is: how do you do that?

We live in consumerist societies, the whole world does, and all the while we’re extracting

Liz Oliva Fernández:

resources, in different ways.

Marnia Briones:

Exactly.

So the goal is slowing down our consumption. You can also recycle too much, which happens in Cuba with the shortages.

I think you need a balance between always reusing and always replacing things. It’s like there’s no middle ground right now.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

I’d like to hear more about what life is like for an artist in Cuba today. 

Marnia Briones:

Living in Cuba is a constant challenge. For me it’s something I’ve been able to overcome.

Dealing with scarcity is something that’s enriched me as an artist. Because going from having nowhere to paint to deciding to paint on all types of materials has made my work stand out. But it’s hard for many artists especially if you want to follow a traditional path like using canvases and painting with oil because of how hard it is getting the materials.

And, as a woman, I think that throughout art history women have played a central role in every movement or period but we don’t know any of their names. Being a woman artist is a bit complicated because domestic labor, raising children doesn’t allow us to spend all of our time on our craft like men are able to.

In the market we face similar challenges when they say “you paint like a woman” or: “look at the feminine colors you use”.

I think we all have a right to express ourselves and I hope that more opportunities can open for women.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Have you always painted to make a living or have you had other jobs? 

Marnia Briones:

Right now in Cuba there’s an opening.

There arre art stores opening up, you can commercialize your art, get a license to be self-employed…There’s a lot of opportunities. But there was a time when those opportunities didn’t exist, and I didn’t have a way to commercialize my art, I had my son, so I had to sell croquettes.

I was selling croquettes for three years in order to provide for my son. I have a story that I always like to tell from that time.

A woman from New York with an art foundation invited me to showcase my art and asked me to create a painting for it. So I painted it piece by piece. When I would finish making croquettes, I would paint a section, then three days later, another, then 15 days later, another, and it was super anachronistic and all over the place.

Over the years I’ve come across it in photos and it’s a beautiful painting, but in that moment, it seemed so scattered. But I sent that painting and a few others and that was the one that sold!

Liz Oliva Fernández:

I personally think croquettes are delicious so that’s a source of inspiration for me.

But, why croquettes? 

Marnia Briones:

Croquettes in Cuba are universally loved.

It’s something delicious that I was good at making and it was easy to make and generated good income.

Since we can eat croquettes for breakfast, for snack, for lunch, for dinner… they’re multipurpose. And while selling croquettes I found that a lot of women appreciated me being there, because they would leave work, then have to go home and make dinner, and since I was there, they could just buy my croquettes and use them for dinner.

It was a beautiful experience. Aside from making money and providing for my son it felt great to help women not have to worry about dinner. 

Liz Oliva Fernández:

To simplify their existence a bit, no? 

Marnia Briones:

Yes, it was a beautiful connection between women. 

Liz Oliva Fernández:

The croquettes of solidarity and family sustenance.

What has been the hardest moment for you as a Cuban artist? 

Marnia Briones:

I’ve gone through a bit of everything.

From not having spaces to showcase frequently to dealing with how different the art market is here.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

The most gratifying? 

Marnia Briones:

Going through so much and staying committed to painting, to that internal sense of how beautiful painting is and having defended that at all costs.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

How do sanctions impact you as an artist? 

Marnia Briones:

Sanctions affect all of us, whether you’re an artist or street sweeper.

Artists have a lot of challenges here, from finding materials to getting a visa, the problems are endless. Something so simple like wanting to hire someone or pay for something you need and not being able to. Even simpler, not being able to promote on Facebook or generate publicity because it’s blocked for Cuba.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

Do you think Marnia would be the artist she is today, if she had been born elsewhere? 

Marnia Briones:

I’m not sure. But I don’t think so. Being born here under these conditions has made me what I am.

Liz Oliva Fernández:

What does Cuba mean to you, Marnia? 

Marnia Briones:

Everything.

I love Cuba deeply and I love being here.

I lived in Europe for seven years and I came back because I wanted to be in Cuba.

In Europe, you could find everything and I was living well but I felt a bit empty like something was missing. And in Cuba, where we do have those scarcities, I don’t have that feeling. I feel full, whole.

And what else do you want as a human being than to feel whole even if you don’t have it all?