Meet Guelmo Rosa, an artist returning to his island to plant art and hope in the Puerto Rican countryside.
*This story was originally published in Sabor Coco, by Daliana Alvarado.
He is Guelmo Rosa, from Morovis, an artist and designer for major brands. "Well, no, Guelmo Rosa is my alter ego, my artistic name. I'm Miguel Rosario Rodríguez. But yes, I am Guelmo Rosa," he says during our visit to his Taller Rosa in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Guelmo is a visual artist and designer, though defining him is limiting him. His main work centers on metal, which he uses to create all kinds of pieces, but he also paints. He is a born creator, as you can sense in this space he has turned into his studio.
He studied at the Escuela de Artes Plásticas de Puerto Rico, where his artistic name took shape and developed. He is bold in his art, but at home and with those close to him, Guelmo is like a father: he welcomes and takes care of people… there is always food.
"If one eats, two eat," he says, and hearing it, you can only think of his mother and his grandmothers. Those are very Puerto Rican qualities that Guelmo carries with pride.
His home is a space for creation, where his art and his dog, Hilo, are the center of attention in a place where things are designed and made out of curiosity.
Guelmo left the Island 13 years ago looking for something different, knowing he needed a change and wanting to know himself better. That is how he arrived in a city that has given him so much. And although it is a love-hate relationship, New York gave him an identity, gave him back his freedom and allowed him to rediscover himself.
— Guelmo Rosa
Between metals and canvases
Rosa has spent 12 years in the jewelry industry, creating wearable pieces. Through his company he has been able to make jewelry for well-known jewelers. "I can't mention names, but I've worked on several collections that when I see them I say, 'wow, I'm really good.' Those of us behind the scenes do the real work. And I have no problem with that, because I know it was me and I carry it in my mind."
The walls of his studio are covered in art.
"These pieces are born from my desire to return to painting. I came to this city and threw myself completely into metal, and I fell in love… so much so that I've manipulated it in every way possible. I made underwear in metal, earrings, suits. And once I managed to master the medium, I thought: what if I mix them, painting and metal?
That's when I started exploring with more erotic, phallic, quite graphic pieces. I started adding metals, chains and little pearls, to make them more delicate… you know, soft/hard. Which also represents me; I'm soft, but I can also be hard [laughs]. This is the evolution of my work."
✍️Also on Platea:
"I want to be part of the change"
– What's next for you? Where are you headed?
"To Puerto Rico at the end of the year! I've been feeling for a while that it's time to go back. But go back the right way. The plan is to return at the end of the year. I have a family that loves and respects me, I have a little house to live in, I'll have security and I'll be able to work on my next project. I'm heading to Morovis, to the countryside… New York will always be here for me.
I return because I long to be in my countryside, to hear the birds when I wake up and the coquí when I rest. I return because I want to belong, and in this city I don't belong. I want to plant, and here I have no land either. I want to be part of the change in Puerto Rico. It's time to return."
– How do you see everything that is happening politically in Puerto Rico?
"It fills my chest with pride and inspires me to return, because I believe in a free and sovereign Puerto Rico. Young people and new generations are the ones who will bring real change. It makes me so proud to see how Puerto Ricans have been waking up, little by little."
Many people ask me: 'Are you going back because you think Puerto Rico can achieve change?' And I always answer: 'I'm going back because Puerto Rico has been in constant change. For many years it wasn't, and that led me to leave the Island. But PR already did it, when in the summer of '19 they removed the man who was governor at the time, and we will do it again.'
Puerto Rico is waiting for you to come back. We've always said it: we like when people leave, but we love when they return. We wish Guelmo a return that is gentle, full of dreams, and Puerto Rican. Puerto Rico and Morovis can count on Guelmo's vision, experience and art. What a gift!
Follow Guelmo and his work at: @guelmorosa
This content was translated with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
