Meet Angie Zuzeth | Artists, Beader, & Healer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angie Zuzeth and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angie, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I learned how to bead 3 years ago in college when one of my professors taught me how to reclaim my identity through beading, dancing, and songs. Through the years I’ve been beading as a way to heal and reconnect with my roots. Beading is a bridge to an identity that was stolen from me due to colonization. When I bead, I heal myself, my loved ones, and my ancestors. Beading is medicine. Therefore as I began to heal, I realized the importance of sharing this medicine to those around me in order to revitalize my culture. During the start of the pandemic I began to share my creations to my loved ones as a way to help them heal through all the uncertainty. Doing so led me to launch my small business to share that love and joy beyond my friends. I named my small business, Yolteotl Creations, after the Nahuatl word “yolteotl” meaning someone whose heart is rooted in the divine. It is a state of oneness with the universes through art and creation. I chose this word as an homage of reclaiming and revitalizing my identity. I also chose this word because many indigenous artisans and artists are considered to be the very epitome of creations itself. We are born to create and our hands have the power to heal, so when we create with our hands we not only heal ourselves but we heal the people around us with our creations.
It’s beautiful to think how my creations becomes part of the lives of people, and with that I hope my creations brings much love and protection in people’s lives.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Throughout the years I have been creating, as it is a way that I heal and center myself. I’m always finding new ways to stay creative in order to nurture my mind, body, and spirit. Creating has allowed me to connect with my identity and culture. As I mentioned previously, I started to bead 3 years ago, I fell in love with the creativity, knowledge, and medicine it holds. I have learned so much through beadwork such as how to be more mindful and more grounded. I love how I can share parts of myself through beadwork. For example, there are some pieces that I consider to be “dark” as it highlights my love for the punk and goth culture.
Because I’ve been beading for the past 3 years, and now I’ve turned into a business, I have been able to maintain a healthy mindset of beading for the purpose of healing myself, and not beading in order to gain profit. My intentions are to share my medicine after all, and if people feel called to my beadwork, then it’s meant to be for them!
Through starting this journey of sharing my beadwork I’ve also been open to sharing my art work! I have turned some of my paintings into prints. I hope to continue sharing different creative mediums for everyone to love and cherish!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to multiple art galleries, one of them being, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, being as that’s one of my favorite places to visit. Have them take a picture of an art piece that they found interesting, inspiring, or different, but not tell them for what purposes yet! Then go to a botanical garden have a picnic and recreate that art piece they took. I always have paints and canvases ready in my car because I love to paint with friends! The fun thing about living in L.A is that you can visit the beach, the mountains, and the desert all at once! So I would take them to explore these places as well!

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to all my professors in college who led me on a journey of reclaiming and revitalizing my indigeneity. They taught me how to be resilient in a world where my skin is loved by some and hated by others. They taught me that I get to live my life the way I chose to identify while also recognizing the privileges I hold. I also want to give a huge shoutout to all the small business owners and other amazing beaders and creatives I’ve met through this journey. They have inspired me to continue doing what I love the most and to continue growing.

Website: www.yolteotl-creations.com

Instagram: yolteotl_creations