Paula Cuevas Embraces Duality to Curate Love and Community for “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die”
Paula Cuevas by @blue.atm_jay (Jaylan Cayetano)
I first met Atlanta-based production designer and art director, Paula Cuevas, on August 19, 2023, at the Swan Coach House Gallery while attending the artist talk for Jurell Cayetano’s “Still Life” exhibition. Now, two years later, Cuevas is collaborating with the gallery as an Emerging Guest Curator for the upcoming exhibition “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die.” The show marks both Cuevas’s solo curatorial debut and the first solo exhibition of its featured artist, Vivian ‘Toots’ Chavez. I recently spoke with Cuevas about her foray into art curation as well as the exhibition, which opens on Thursday, August 7, at the Swan Coach House Gallery.
Cuevas reveals at the top of our conversation that her foray into art curation serendipitously began on the day we met. While attending Cayetano’s artist talk, Jacob O’Kelley, the Artistic Director at Swan Coach House Gallery, approached her with an unexpected offer: “Would you want to guest-curate here?” Despite having previously taken on curatorial projects such as the “HER RITUAL” exhibition at THE GALLERY by WISH in collaboration with Soap Goods Creative, Cuevas was still “shocked and honored all at the same time” by O’Kelley’s proposal. However, she notes that she intentionally maintained connections to the art world by attending shows and consistently expressed her interest in curation, even if she didn’t anticipate being offered the opportunity at Swan Coach House Gallery.
Her expansion into art curation from the deeply collaborative fields of art direction and production design was largely inspired by a strong desire to support and showcase the talents of artists, particularly women of color and especially her friends. “I think for me a really big part of it is just seeing the possibility within certain artists and wanting them to experiment more, specifically artists who don’t usually get the recognition or the resources to create,” she explains.
Vivian ‘Toots’ Chavez by @ariskin (Ari Skin)
Cuevas’s upcoming exhibition, “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die,” is the debut solo show of friend and multi-disciplinary artist Vivian Chavez. “Its really been a journey,” Cuevas says of the collaboration, “we’ve known each other for almost a decade. There’s friendship there and we’re both learning this new kind of role in artistry and how we fit in.” Friendship and community were central themes in our conversation. The evocative title, “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die,” even emerged from a collaborative moment between Chavez and Mikkoh, another artist-friend who is now also integral to the show’s branding. Chavez’s father passed away shortly after the title was chosen, which added a significant emotional weight to the experience for everyone involved. “There’s been an added level of just wanting to make sure that this is a body of work Vivian feels can honor his legacy. But, she’s also working on that while grieving,” reveals Cuevas. Cuevas says that the “community of it all” has been critical throughout the emotionally heavy journey of producing the show over the past year, with “so many women of color specifically” showing up to support Chavez, from vocal performances for a teaser video to logistics and photography.
The core theme that she hopes viewers take away from “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die” is the “duality of love,” which she says encompasses both its beauty and its inherent tension. This includes the complexities of familial ties, the trauma carried into romantic relationships, and the multifaceted nature of love itself. Cuevas wants viewers to “lean into that tension” and appreciate both sides of it. She offers a powerful insight when I ask about the prevalence of duality as a theme in Black art: “I think it all comes from survival.” She believes that for women of color, existing day-to-day can be challenging, and that survival often hinges on “seeing the beauty and the ugliness and accepting the ugliness, leaning into it, knowing that that beauty is there.” It’s about finding the humor in difficult moments and dealing with reality by embracing both sides. “As women of color,” she explains, “we especially see that and so it shows up in the ways that we express ourselves.”
Cuevas hopes that curation will become a central part of her creative practice moving forward, ideally alongside her production work. She offers the following when asked to share advice for other Black and Brown artists considering new creative roles or pivots:
“Number one, do it. And number two, just like no matter how difficult it may seem or, you know, whatever challenges you do face, just maintaining your core values. So, you know, whatever matters to you, don't ever sacrifice that. Keep that as your through line. Whatever that value is, is what you carry, don't let anyone deviate you from that.”
Catch the opening reception for “The Love I Have to Give Before I Die” on Thursday, August 7, from 6-9pm at Swan Coach House Gallery.