Midas Touch? A Glimpse at Artist Camela Guevara

By Dalia Dalili

Camela Guevara is an artist from Charleston.

She’s got great style, sharp wit, mean karaoke game, and turns just about anything she touches into gold.

She’s always worked with her hands, whether it be playing drums (see The Local Honeys), winning Portrait Battles, bowling, deviling eggs, making accessories, origami, drawing, painting, crocheting, beading, sewing... okay okay, you get it. She’s the best friend a girl could ever have! If I do say so myself.

Within the past few years, she’s really found her voice as a fiber artist, resulting in beautiful hand beaded abstractions that clearly take a lot of heart and soul. These works look like what dreams are made of, flaunting glistening beads and sequins that flow across the surfaces so effortlessly, like they were there all along.

On the contrary; each one was meticulously placed, inspired by the freewheeling milieu she’s confronted with on a daily basis. Her process involves her stretching a canvas using a tan knit fabric & adding the beads one by one, typically while listening to podcasts or foreign female-fronted bands.

Camela also contributes to Charleston Garment Manufactory, which is a fashion resource center and production facility that does pattern work, product development, sample sewing for designers such as STATE, Hannah Goff, JLINSNIDER, and Troubadour, all of which are Charleston Fashion Week alumni.

She recently took down a show in at Ten Storehouse Row in North Charleston entitled "Material Matters," but is working on a potential solo show for the fall, so keep your ears to the ground! Meanwhile, you can find her teaching workshops at SpaceCraft Studios, working in her studio at Redux, and tailoring what could be your pants on the side.

She and I also run a blog together called Gem Sounds.

This is our love letter to fearless women with discerning taste in all things dreamy. Music, swoon-worthy fashion, and distinct style included.

See more of her work at CamelaGuevara.com!