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Diana Eusebio is a young Afro-Latina artist on the Miami scene. She delves into various art forms including design and photography.
Through her work, her main goal is to translate often misrepresented stories into pieces of art that challenge society’s beliefs about identity and intersectionality. In her words, her work is influenced by the Latinx community and made for the Latinx
community.
She recently joined the Deering Estate as an Artist in Residence to further develop her work and artistic practice. With this residency program, the Deering Estate continues to honor the interests of its original owner, Charles Deering. Deering was an important patron of the arts, supporting artists in several disciplines throughout his lifetime. The Deering Estate hopes to continue its goal of being a growing space for creative ideas.
Before arriving at Deering Estate, Eusebio had already built up experience with several exhibitions and graduated in 2020 with her BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art. She also has been incredibly involved in the arts, working for major clients, such as Forbes, Italian Vogue, Modern Luxury Media, Hypebeast, and the Miami Herald. These experiences have allowed her to earn several accolades including her recognition as a U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts, which is one of the highest honors for young artists.
Her work can be described as playful and colorful as it focuses on the body and garments to create her stories. One of her most eye-catching pieces includes her SS18 DE Colores collection. It features nine pieces all designed, patterned, constructed, styled, and photographed by Eusebio. The collection debuted at the 2018 MICA Benefit Fashion Show and was showcased at the 2018 Roots & Raices Festival, addressing the intersections of colorism and identity in Afro-Latinx communities.
Here is an interview with Diana Eusebio, where she discusses her art, influences, and future as she joins the Deering Estate as part of their Artists in Residence program:
Q: You’ve stated before that you’re passionate about representing the varied experiences of the Black and Latinx diaspora, how does this message transfer over into your work in fashion?
A: Through my fashion work, I often explore my own Black and Latinx identity and reflect on stories from my community. For example, within my Spring Summer 2018 collection titled “DE Colores,” I created women’s and menswear looks inspired by the colors, stripes, and textile-making techniques from Peru, which is where my mother is from. While exploring the concept of Afro-Latinidad in relation to my father’s Dominican side.
Not only is the collection inspired by us, it’s made for us too. I want people from the diaspora to wear these garments and feel represented, proud, connected, and seen so you are literally wearing your heart on your sleeve.
Q: What made you want to pursue photography, fashion design, and textiles?
A: My background is in fashion design and textiles and in a lot of the collections I created I always had a story that I was expressing. My garments are full of concepts, stories, and voices from my own heritage and from my community.
So, the goal in mind when I started doing photography was to take photos of my fashion work in a way that visually illustrated all of these stories and concepts in my collections.
But then I ended up falling in love with photography because it is so similar to fashion in that you’re working with and servicing people. In the same way that a garment is made to fit a person, portrait and fashion photography are made to illustrate a person. In both mediums, I am able to service my community and translate research and stories into visual art.
Q: How have your experiences as an Afro-Latina shaped your work?
A: The Afro-Latinx community is not widely represented within our society. Whenever I bring up my Afro-Latinx heritage there are always questions surrounding the topic. People in America have a hard time understanding how one can be both Black and Latinx and these experiences throughout my lifetime have been often hard but also became an inspiration and a story that I wanted to express visually.
I find it beautiful how my identity, which used to make me feel “othered,” is now where I find my sense of community that I’m proud to embrace, and that has pushed my work further.
Q: How does being an Artist in Residence at Deering Estate help you to grow as an artist?
A: Within my work, I am often inspired by my Peruvian-Dominican heritage but I’m also a first-generation American, born and raised in Miami. I grew up about 10 minutes away from the Deering Estate, specifically in Goulds. I am grateful to be an Artist in Residence at the Deering Estate because it gives me a chance to not only continue researching my Peruvian-Dominican heritage within my work but also gives me the opportunity to grow and research my roots within Miami.
Miami is said to be a new city with not a lot of history. However, during my time at the Deering Estate I’ve been quickly learning that there is a lot of hidden history within Miami that dates back 30,000 years. It is a huge blessing to have a studio at one of Miami’s oldest historical sites — that I, and a lot of locals, don’t even know is so close to home, literally.
I’m so excited to be an Artist in Residence at the Deering Estate, to see what I create in response to this research, and to engage my local community in Miami’s history.
Eusebio currently is located in Studio 3, in the Carriage House West at Deering Estate. To check out more information on this talented artist, visit her website at https://dianaeusebio.com/.
