Today we’d like to introduce you to Marisol Santana.
Marisol, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began making malas six years ago, after the seven-year ordeal of completing and defending my doctoral dissertation. I was so exhausted from all the writing, worrying, and thinking that I needed to get out of my head. I needed to get back into my body, my hands, to do something that would ground and help me cope with the immense pressure and anxiety I had from graduate school. I came across this mala-making workshop, which was designed to help heal yourself through the making of one mala. I gave it to myself for my birthday. This is how my healing journey began.
Throughout this journey, I have discovered that all gemstones have a calming effect, giving a feeling of lightness and well-being. I’ve learned that it’s not just the elements in a crystal that are healing, but it’s the light that reflects off the stones. Making Malas is a meditation, which reduces anxiety for myself and others who wear them, especially during these troubling times. I’ve learned that malas bring peace, sunshine, joy, and a feeling of nourishing adornment into people’s lives.
Each mala I make is unique. Many are custom-made for a client who might need a dose of bright, light-filled energy. I’ve been told my malas have a touch of magic that elevates a person’s positive vibration. Many times, clients glow while wearing one of these malas.
Soleil Satnam jewelry began as custom-tailored gifts created with individual needs for wellness in mind. When my photographs of jewelry were displayed on social media and on the Etsy.com platform, private commissions started to pour in. After one year, Soleil Satnam mala necklaces became the exclusive prayer bead jewelry for the Rubin Museum of Art gift shop in New York City, where they have resided since 2018. Soleil Satnam continues to provide jewelry for private commissions and as a wholesale brand for museums, galleries, and high-end boutiques and salons.
Soleil Satnam will soon open a brick-and-mortar gallery boutique within the new Pico Roots Marketplace at 1819 Pico Marketplace in Santa Monica set to open in early spring of 2024!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Making handmade jewelry at a fine arts museum standard is a rewarding, soul-enriching challenge. When COVID and its consequential anxiety hit, internet sales increased for my malas at the Rubin Museum of Art. I realized that I was not equipped for mainstream manufacturing. I was fulfilling large orders all on my own, and the physical strain was taking a toll on my neck and eyes with the labor from making jewelry.
I consider each mala to be a work of art, so they are not easy to mass produce in a factory with just any hands. This is the challenge that I currently grappling with.
As I prepare for the opening of our boutique, I am pacing myself physically, making a little bit of jewelry at a time. It is my hope that as the boutique grows, I will seek out the right artisans to assist in the production of more inventory.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a multidisciplinary artist and educator who specializes in the performing arts, jewelry, and mixed media. Although I am from Los Angeles, I lived in the New York City metropolitan area for eighteen years, where I exhibited my art; and performed, wrote, and produced musical theatre. I would say that all my art has socially conscious themes- whether it be global warming, civil rights, immigration reform, or mental health. I create art and teach to help improve lives on earth by increasing empathy, awareness, and compassion.
For years, I was the exclusive artist-in-residence of Himalayan mala jewelry for the Rubin Museum of Art in New York City. I have recently exhibited and auctioned my photography and paintings for the HoldYou foundations, benefiting families in need with medical crises at the TAG Gallery in Los Angeles for three years in a row.
In 2010, I founded TESOL Drama, where I have taught drama workshops to teachers and social workers of all nationalities in New York City; Los Angeles; Paris, France; and Florence, Italy. One of my most pleasurable moments was sitting in the cafe Le Relais de la Butte after teaching my first workshop, overlooking the city of Paris and the Eiffel Tower at sunset. I had a similar experience debriefing a TESOL Drama workshop co-taught with my soulmate husband in Florence, Italy as we sat on the cool stone wall of the Palazzo Strozzi people-watching on a hot summer’s night.
I was fortunate enough to conduct personal interviews and case studies with performing arts pioneers Jonas Mekas, Meredith Monk, and Judith Malina for my doctoral dissertation, my life’s work entitled “Creative Planets (Modalities of Art) Collide: The Big Bang of Multimedia Arts in the 1960s” where I acquired invaluable wisdom and insight about the multimedia art-making process within the socially turbulent time of the sixties.
Some of my proudest moments as a teaching artist have been to help implement a school lunch program for ten thousand schoolgirls in Yemen, as well as assisting in the creation of a drama curriculum for child victims of violence from the war in Palestine.
I am the recipient of Max’s Kansas City Project Grant, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the California Arts Council Grant for Artists and Cultural Practitioners, and a two-time grant recipient from Stephen King’s Haven Foundation for Writers and Artists.
I am currently on the writing faculty at AMDA College of the Performing Arts in Los Angeles and teach ESL to immigrants and refugees at Culver City Adult School.
I hope my jewelry, art, and instruction will continue to open minds, help heal hearts, and uplift souls.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
My biggest cheerleader and supporter is my husband, José Angel Santana. Without his insight and support, I could not have finished my doctoral dissertation, which led to the creation of my jewelry. He has encouraged me to “follow my bliss” and to live my life fully as an artist.
Thanks also to the biggest supporters of my jewelry, my colleague Nandini Naik (Executive Director of the Interdependence Project), Prisanee Suwanwatana (The Rubin Museum of Art Gift Shop, Senior Manager), and Negin Singh (Streetlet, Curator of the Pico Roots Marketplace).
I also could not open my store without the generous contributions from my many generous friends and colleagues who donated to my start-up business campaign.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.soleilsatnam.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soleilsatnam/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soleilsatnam
