ALAMO, Texas - Susana Rubín de Celis, whose sculpture of a raised hand holding a lime adorns the new CIL Fresh Pharr Perishables Distribution Center, has given an in-depth interview to the Rio Grande Guardian.
“I was born in Mexico City and, well, all my life I've dedicated myself to businesses, coaching, therapy, and a foundation. But at 40 I discovered I had a talent for painting,” Rubín said.
“I worked for many years making murals and paintings, also making sculptures, and I started discovering new techniques, always with a great hunger to learn because, thank God, art has been a connection for me, more so, in many ways, than the outside world.”
Rubín said living in a foreign land - the United States, and the city of Alamo, to be precise - these past few years has taught her to discover herself.
“In this self-discovery, I found myself in many parts of art… where I could develop. I found a world I hadn't found in business or other areas.”
When asked about the sculpture she did for CIL, Rubín said, "There was an intention from the beginning to make a symbol that could identify this project. What I wanted was to honor the harvest, to honor the strength of the harvest, to honor the hands that harvest, to remind us that in order to have lemons, mangoes, anything we harvest, we need (those hands)."
“We have other projects coming. Other sculptures, but this was the main one. This was the first one we were going to do with them (CIL), and it was important to them that it had a significant meaning, one that was related not only to art but also to what they are doing.”
When asked how she got the job with CIL, Rubín said, “I worked with them before at a ranch they have nearby, and one of the directors, one of the leaders, is Mr. Joaquín Spamer. I'm his niece. Mr. Spamer is my mother's cousin. We've been working closely together, as you can see.”
Rubín continued: “When I lived in Mexico, I had a large team that helped me make the sculptures, helped me with all the work. César Herrero was there, helping me with the cement and welding. But when I got here, I had the difficulty of not finding people who could help me. So, for me, it's been a wonderful project because I started studying everything, from how to weld to how to create everything. Before, I only did the initial design and finished the final shape, but now I do absolutely everything. It was a wonderful learning experience. I did almost 100% of the work, from bending rebar to pouring all the cement. It's been an incredible experience, truly. It helped me learn in many areas that I hadn't been able to do before. As I mentioned, for me it's very rewarding to be learning new things and integrating them. It's been a great project for me.”
Asked about the process, Rubín says it starts with developing an idea.
“I then shared it with everyone at the (CIL) park until it was decided that this would be the sculpture. After I had the whole development, I did all the engineering. I figured out how the structure would be. I took all the measurements and created the whole project to be able to make it. Then I bought the rods and started bending them, and I gradually assembled it. I took classes, as I mentioned, such as learning to weld.
“With my teacher, we built the first one, bending and shaping the hand. Hands are difficult because they have a lot of movement, and that makes it complicated and challenging, but it's also incredibly satisfying when you solve that problem. So, after bending the rods and connecting them, I added a mesh. It's a special mesh that was sent to me from Philadelphia; it's plastic, but it allows the cement to be contained. Then, after bending all the rods and creating the entire structure of the hand... I managed to put everything together.”
Rubín has her own workshop in Alamo. It was there that she made the hand-casting.
“It was then taken to the site there in Pharr. The warehouse was practically finished; all that was missing was the inside. Well, the sculpture, or rather the structure of the sculpture, was placed inside a platform that I made, five feet by five feet. Then there are three phases of cementing.
“The first one is where you put all the cement so that it sticks to the mesh and the structure. Then in the second phase, you shape it, and in the third part, you give it.. it is like you put on its skin. You're making all the nooks and crannies, like the nails, everything that creates the wrinkles. And after the third phase, it was decided to paint it because sometimes they only ask for the cement, but in this case, it was decided to paint it.”
Asked why she and the CIL chose the lime, Rubín said: “One of the companies that are at the farm has limes. There are also mangoes, there are several fruits, but the lemon was very important, and that's where I got the idea from.”
Rubín has also been committed for other scultures and murals.
“The first mural I did in the United States was in Brownsville, about three years ago, which is precisely when I came here to the United States. I did a mural in Brownsville on 9th Street and Elizabeth, downtown. I have to say, the United States and this Valley have captivated me. I did the mural in Brownsville and then the intention was to start looking for space here.
“The second mural I did was on a ranch. It is a big fighting bull, like, enormous. It must measure about four meters by five meters, more or less. And well, after that, the City of McAllen commissioned me to do the Hidalgo Bridge mural. I have four airports filled with murals, works, and sculptures.”
Rubín said she is currently working on a sculpture that has a hammer hitting a stone. “The intention is to honor the workforce.”
Rubín has also been commissioned to design and craft a sculpture for Bonanza, a Mexican company that exports avocados to the U.S.
“That one is going to be very beautiful. I'm very happy because I think my idea has been very well received. And now, my Uncle Joaquín was saying that it would be a novelty to put a work of art in the industrial park. Again, my idea seems to be very well received. I'm getting calls, people are asking me if I can do this or that for them, and that makes me very happy, honestly.”
Rubín continued: “I love those who are fortunate enough to live in art. They can understand me because it seems that when you're doing something you love, something that's your thing, something you're connected to, the world shuts down and only what you're doing comes alive. Then the hours fly by, the days fly by, and it creates its own kind of time where you're just moving forward little by little. It is like… sometimes I feel like I'm especially immersed in this work, which is different from the murals, but in this work of cement sculptures, I feel like I'm going back to my childhood when I was in the sandbox playing all the time with sand. It's a bit like that, that's how I feel.
“If you're like me and you love to create, it allows you to become completely absorbed in it, you know? It has happened to me now with the lime sculpture. I didn't want to finish it. I knew it was the last day for the cement. I was saying, ‘Oh no, how awful (I cannot work on this project anymore). But that's why, because of the enjoyment, you know? It is really great to be somewhere when you're doing what you love most.”
Rubín added: “Working with cement has been a real discovery because I had made sculptures that were more inward-looking, not outward-looking. Now that I'm working with cement, I feel like I've grown wings. I mean, I already had wings, but now it gives me the possibility of reaching whatever levels I want.”
