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

Hi Breen, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I was an only child for 8 years. Daughter of the most tender, desperate, punctual, and fun woman, and daughter of a loving, hardworking, and creative father.

These two people, young and inexperienced with children, made me a spoiled child: they filled me with love, affection, and lots of care. At the same time, I also grew up full of fears and insecurities.

In my childhood, there was never a shortage of paper, markers, or colors. I remember having several boxes of the most coveted colored pencils in my circle at the time: Norma colored pencils. I also remember enjoying the smell of the stationery aisle every time a school year ended, the smell of crayons, notebooks with printed characters, colorful labels. An endless array of necessary and unnecessary things. Things I had the privilege of seeing and having.

I always remember myself as a drawer. I remember drawing a “mouse on skates,” which came from a school story we had read, and my mind couldn’t stop imagining a thousand ways to draw mice on skates.
My mom used to say that my hands “tingled.” Now I know that tingling is my attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, which I have had to deal with for all of my 30 years of life.

I devoured coloring books, collected scraps of paper and advertisements. Illustrative assignments were a delight for me. Having to draw an animal on a poster board to present it in class was something that excited me a lot.
My notes always had drawings, drawings, and invented typography. Once a teacher kept my English notebook to use it as a reference for other students.

In my teenage years, my room started to become a collage. I cut out foam figures, made poorly sewn felt stuffed animals, painted, scribbled, and wrote with markers on the walls. I never stopped.

It wasn’t until I was 20 years old that I had to decide what to study. I insist that at that age, one is foolish, inexperienced, and very young to have to decide something important. I studied Graphic Design.

I remember many boring subjects like pre-press, editorial, and accounting. That’s why now it takes me a long time to make a quote and file taxes with the SAT. Haha.
University was a lot of partying. A lot of partying and a lot of coffee too. I am grateful to my classmates who partied more than I did and paid me to do their homework; because that led me to practice more and more in drawing and design programs.

I started taking a lot of photos with my professional camera required for the photography class. Once again, I feel privileged to be telling this. Unfortunately, education is a privilege.

Photos of family members, photos of trips, nature, party photos. Which in a way was good because people started hiring me to take photos at events; and that was practically my first job.

My room was always my main canvas. I also started painting in large formats, experimenting with materials. On one of my birthdays, my parents let me paint the garage gate with spray paint.
In a way, my life began to have decorations in all aspects. I wanted to design my clothes, I wanted to make films, I wanted to invent a cartoon, I wanted to set up an exhibition with all my drawings in my room.
Drawing became a religion for me. A need as important as eating.

After graduating, I got a job as an illustrator for a manual in a restaurant chain. It was my first job with hours, sitting in an office, and always intervening in spaces. I am charismatic (this may sound boastful, perhaps) but kindness, eloquence, and affection; have led me to feel welcomed, loved, and appreciated in the places I have worked. I remember drawing with markers on the window of that office. I also remember cutting stickers with my characters to stick them on the subway or give them away so people could get to know my work.

I worked in person at 2 more places, and that’s when I decided to go out on my own. With fear, a lot of fear, 21 years of life, some savings in the bank, and the support of my then partner; I resigned from the office chairs with wheels. (At this moment, I am also in a chair with wheels writing this haha).

I was always illustrating. I drew portraits of people and enjoyed it. It was one December when I opened commissions for portraits as Christmas gifts and earned the same or a bit more money than what my last job offered me.
Despite no longer being in an office; discipline, schedules, and commitment; were the perfect factors to stay balanced in my work.

Recommendations from friends, teachers, and family started coming in, seeking my art. Showing my processes and my projects; I believe has always been the best idea for more people to know what you do and also: connect with you, create community, and live wonderful experiences.

Because in a way, being an artist; is something wonderful. And at the same time, also painful and frustrating. Because as free as I may feel when designing, painting, or drawing; self-demand has never ceased to be my lifelong companion. Anxiety disorder and my intensity in feeling have always played and misplayed in my persona and my artistic side. The capitalist system we live in demands that I produce, generate, and exploit. The pressure to pay rent at an unrealistic cost in Mexico City has been one of the problems my generation has had to deal with in recent years.

But at the same time: taking a spray can and taking over the streets as a bisexual neurodivergent woman is something magical and inexplicable that fills me with life. Taking a pencil in public transport, on the street, while waiting for something or someone, is for me a daily dessert. Although finishing writing this, I have normalized eating daily desserts a lot.
Meeting people and their stories becomes inspiration. Translating into a format everything I feel, see, eat, and smell; is the purest and most concrete form of what my body feels as: FREEDOM.
Creating, making noise, making art, and people enjoying it; is something that gives me a lot of life.

I am from this planet. I am from all the places I have visited, I am from all the spaces I have inhabited.
I admire, respect, and forgive my past. A past where I was completely different from who I am now. A past from which I learned and continue to learn. A past where I was also able to enjoy, have much satisfaction, and much pain.

As a human being and artist, I could summarize that my trajectory up to this moment has been very intense. Intense and enjoyable. My education as a person has been questioned and always in constant change. My skills as an artist have been evolutionary, alternating, and emotional. My trajectory, my experiences, and my experiences as a human being in this dimensional plane have been the true motivation to be the creator I am today.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My art is a heterogeneous mix of punk, tenderness, rebellion, and sweetness. My characters and their environments radiate tenderness, freshness, freedom, and nostalgia. I get very excited when people can identify my pieces without seeing my signature; when I see them carrying my characters on their phone cases, when I receive messages like: “I bought your piece,” when they approach me to request a quote (whether it materializes or not), or when my students write to me expressing how much they enjoyed today’s class.

I arrived at this point through a lot of hard work, effort, and discipline. Through a lot of psychological therapy, personal work, and passion for life. It hasn’t been easy, but here I am. Expressing myself, existing, and resisting; with the purpose of visually delighting the people who see my work. To connect, make them feel, excite them, or embrace them through my art.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I am passionate about breakfasts. About breakfasts, and perhaps I would say about cooking. So my itinerary would be as follows:
In the morning, I would invite her to my house and prepare a fruit cocktail, coffee, and molletes with pico de gallo. While we are having breakfast in my living room, there has to be some house music, corridos tumbados, or cumbias playing. (Depending on my mood that day).

After breakfast, we would take a bike ride to Chapultepec, Coyoacán, or Ciudad Universitaria. There we could lie on the grass, draw, and keep listening to music.

When we have finished having deep conversations about existence, we would have a fresh salad with something crunchy: peanuts, walnuts, or almonds. Clearly, something with chocolate for dessert is a must.

We will return home, watch a movie or keep listening to music. We will smoke a bit and eat once more (of course, I am quite a foodie).

Thanks to this question, I just discovered that: 1. I am very homey or 2. I am very boring. Haha.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is dedicated to my cousin Iván Ruiz (El Skot), who inspired me to discover and delve into the world of graffiti and large formats, which is the form of expression I currently enjoy the most.
And to my sister Vanessa, who is amazing and whom I want to trust in her talent, and know that great things are waiting for her, just like her.

Website: https://www.behance.net/breendart2612b

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/labreens/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Labreens-100027924596062/?paipv=0&eav=AfbMocu5rrCthhMgYJofTrzB-HL3MaFgePAD0xt2XD_KddM58oiVYcZQ0J6o3d-GOrw&_rdr

Other: Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@labreeens

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5l3c2rE0ekQlAEUNWNwBeo?si=1a9867dfb5b14817

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