Meet the Creator of Art by Ciara: Self-Taught Artist Embraces Her Identity
Interview by: Alana Eastling
Editor: Jeni Fjelstad
Creative Direction: Catie Menke
Ciara Sana is a self-taught CHamoru artist whose mission is to empower and uplift people. Through her work, she specifically focuses on elevating women, people of Pasifika and Asian descent, and other folx of color. Her whimsical prints and accessory designs embody her culture and nostalgia for her time growing up on Guam.
As a diasporic CHamoru woman myself, I was overjoyed when I discovered Ciara and her artwork. In a quest to fill my apartment walls with art prints in support of women-of-color artists, I was not expecting to feel seen and represented to the degree that Ciara’s work captured our culture. Every room in my home has a piece of Ciara’s art in it, and I genuinely wear her earrings non-stop. (Even the custom tissue paper her orders are packaged in is worthy of framing!) I hold Ciara’s art close to my heart not only because of its beauty but how it makes me feel close to my heritage.
Ciara’s passion for art and her artistic process are deeply rooted in her childhood and community. Her father’s artistry, curiosity, and creativity sparked her initial interest in art.
“He noticed I was drawn to art and helped my artistic and creative side to grow and flourish,” she said. “I watched what he would do, and he taught me what he knew. That played into the reason why I am self-taught.”
Although her love and skill for artistic expression were supported in her family, Ciara’s parents encouraged her to pursue a career path that utilized her creativity while providing more financial stability beyond becoming an artist. She catered her high school course load in that direction, avoiding art classes altogether. With fate on her side, Ciara discovered her senior year that she needed an art course credit to meet graduation requirements. Immediately, her teacher noticed her skillset and talent and accelerated her into the advanced studio art class.
“[This class] allowed me to play with different mediums that I never had access to or never knew existed,” she said. “I always kept that in the back of my mind once I graduated. Then when I went to college, I dropped out because I was miserable. I wasn't doing what I wanted.”
To move through the difficult emotions in this transitional chapter, Ciara turned to creating art. As she shared her pieces on social media, she began receiving interest from people looking to purchase her work. She embraced the joy, satisfaction, and independence that making art and following her passion brought her.
Ciara’s original artwork featured an old-school flash tattoo style that helped to grow her audience on social media. She started to receive custom portrait requests from within her community, leading her to explore various art styles. Eventually, Ciara’s work and engagement culminated in her founding her own small business. From there, a friend extended an invitation for Ciara to sell her work at an art show.
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“I had no idea what I was doing,” she said. “I had never done anything like that before. I bought dollar store buckets, went to the FedEx, made prints of art that I had in my sketchbook, and sold them for $5 apiece. It was so fun!”
With this opportunity, Ciara immersed herself into the local artist community in Bellingham, Washington, where she learned more about developing her craft. She eagerly asked questions and found trial and error to be her best teacher.
“It refined me to where I was used to failing,” she said. “I stopped getting disappointed by my failures and used them as learning opportunities.”
After finding her footing and cultivating her existing audience in Washington, Ciara was curious to uncover a more authentic style that reflected who she was and her story. She noticed a lack of representation of people who looked like her.
“Art pieces where people were highlighted in an empowering way never looked like me,” she said. “I never felt like I could relate to those pieces because I could never see myself in them.”
Beyond the erasure in art, the representation that was available did not feel authentic to Ciara.
“Whenever I saw pieces depicting people who look like us,” she said, “I felt it didn’t represent a modern version of us. [The women in these pieces were] gentle, soft, almost seductive. Those are beautiful pieces, but the women that I knew were these really strong ‘go through the boonies’ type of ladies.”
To honor the strong women she grew up around, Ciara returned to her childhood practice of illustrating princesses and cartoon characters with melanated skin like her role models. While Ciara spoke about these women, there was an energized and spirited shift in her tone.
“They needed to be strong. [... B]oth my grandmas grew up during the war,” she said. “One was sixteen and the other five. Our clan name is Tugon, which means charge [in Chamorro]. My grandmas, aunties, and mom taught me a lot about what it is to be strong but also hold grace at the same time. There was this awesome balance that I saw, they were gentle but firm. It’s why I do these soft feminine women but they have that strength behind them. These are the women that I grew up with that have shaped and molded me.”
In Ciara’s journey to create art that felt true to her, she focused on reconnecting to pieces of her identity and culture that mattered most — family, community, music, and food. The response she received from her artwork had a global reach and impact.
“All these people from the Islands [and beyond] could really relate to the deep meaning of pieces that I made,” she said. “I saw that what I was doing wasn't only helping myself but helping others in my community feel the same kind of empowerment.”
Ciara, her artwork, and her mission to empower others have cultivated a devoted community that continues to grow along with her in her journey of exploring and expressing her authenticity.
“I make things for people like you who have these stories,” she said. “As long as it means something to someone, I’m going to keep doing it. I see it as a way to help empower my nieces and nephews on Guam or my cousins or people like you or even my daughter, Maiana, and my future children. Representation is my priority.”
Thank you, Ciara, for this warming conversation that felt like a hug. Your strength and grace in listening to your intuition is an inspiration. The beautiful affirmations your art exudes are such a valuable blessing. You are the beloved heart of the Art by Ciara community.
Find Ciara Sana’s artwork at artbyciara.com and on Instagram @artbyciara.
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