Kamiru PART I

PART I: Kamiru’s Beautifully Chaotic Experimental Mixed Media Art

Kamila – better known as Kamiru – has a box with plenty of notebooks full of her drawings. She began immersing herself in these pages when she was only eleven years old and they’ve gathered all of her drawings until she was sixteen. Till this day, she still deeply loves getting lost in drawing every day.

She knew at a very early age that this artistic practice is what she loves to do non-stop. It was an instant click for her and probably what led her to study and pursue her career in graphic design. 

“I started my career in graphic design [at the Instituto IDAT in Peru] and the pandemic started. They locked me up with all my materials. I really could never use them,” Kamiru said. “I even finished studying during the pandemic.”

It was a crazy experience for the Peruvian graphic designer and mixed media artist. She was taking courses on branding, Photoshop, Illustrator, and other digital softwares. Both the pandemic and constantly staring at a computer screen, took her to a point of burnout. She did not want to do any more digital projects.

That was when a major discovery came through for Kamiru. 

“Discovering mixed media was a sort of salvation for that burnout and a reason to use my materials that were gathering dust,” Kamiru said laughing. “I think everything fell into place for me to go down the path of mixed media.”

Listen to Kamiru

0:00

/22.037333

1×

In this mixed media art, she found a world full of experimental possibilities. She also noticed there were not many people in Peru practicing this technique and since Kamiru had been recently fired from her job back then, she had a lot of free time on her hands. She saw a window to challenge herself and start experimenting with that art.

Then, her favorite artist, Mitski, performed in Peru in 2022. Kamiru filmed some videos with her phone and artistically intervened them. She wanted to add some textures and colors. 

“I remember that was the video in which I experimented the most with that technique. Whatever came to mind. I uploaded it to Tik Tok without really expecting something [out of it] and it was the first video that became super viral,” Kamiru said laughing. “It had so many comments and likes.” 

That had never happened to her before. Not even when she uploaded makeup videos. It was until she dove deep into this beautifully chaotic experimental mixed media world, that she began getting more noticed and had more interactions on social media.

Making a Career Out of Mixed Media Art

With that attention, lots of people started reaching out and telling her they loved her work. They wanted to work with her and that was when she realized she could make money out of it. It all began as a hobby and it was never intended to become her career, but she started attracting clients. 

Certain opportunities started jumping at her. Joe Upchurch, the manager of the U.S. singer Mai Anna, reached out to Kamiru. He wanted her to intervene Mai Anna’s “Trash Bag” music video with her mixed media animations. 

Just as Kamiru’s website states, it’s a “frame by frame mixed media animation applied to key scenes to enhance visual storytelling and emphasize the song's emotional narrative.”

And since it was her first client, she put a lot of effort and care into it. It’s still one of the projects she really likes.

After that, she kept uploading more videos to social media. She started drawing in more clients, but she then got a new office job. She had to work from nine to five, Monday through Friday, and that affected her mixed media practice. Kamiru stopped uploading pieces as frequently as she did before and she was not getting that many commissioned projects.

“In that time, I started feeling sad because I didn’t like the job I had. I suffered two hours of traffic jams getting to and from work and from time to time, I’d get a freelo [project],” Kamiru said. “I realized that with these clients I could earn more money than what I was earning in the office.”

This new option ruminated a lot in her mind. She knew it was time to fully commit herself to her mixed media practice as a freelancer. It was time to market her work to attract more clients.

In December of 2024, she quit her corporate job and in 2025, she was on to her new freelance adventure as her own boss. She gathered lots of clients and began dedicating all her time to her pieces. She started creating strategies for clients, the content, and see what projects she could put out into the world to draw more attention towards her work.

Lots of energy was placed into networking and meeting people from different fields. It presented several challenges for her at the beginning because she was not meeting the goal of earning the same amount of money as she was doing in her previous job, but she kept herself consistent with the creation of her mixed media art.

“I think what led me to take that step was that if I really trusted myself, I knew that with the time and effort [invested], it would pay off,” Kamiru said. “Especially if I was constant.”

The Experimental Creative Process

With her ambitious and disciplined self, Kamiru found in her mixed media art a space for experimentation and playfulness. It reminds her of her childhood. When she’d watch stop motion movies. When she’d play with a digital camera creating stop motion videos with her dolls.

It takes her back in time, but it also brings her to the present. Where she understands it as a discipline to express herself through paper, textures, colors, and a grainy aesthetic. It began as a very beautiful exploration where she kept surprising herself. She failed as many times as it was necessary to decipher the technique. 

Her mixed media art also became a sort of meditation. One in which she doesn’t even notice the passage of time because she enjoys it so much. She also loves touching the materials she works with and not having to use the computer so much. 

It’s what she appreciates so much from creating in an analogous manner. She connects more to herself and the art while crafting it. 

“I really enjoy not only the result, but the process. You must definitely like it because it means that if you want to dedicate yourself to that, it’ll be sustainable throughout time for you,” Kamiru said.

Listen to Kamiru

0:00

/29.213333

1×

But to get a better grasp of what Kamiru means with all of this, we must understand her creative process for commercial and personal pieces. 

Whenever it’s her personal pieces – mostly her fan art of her favorite bands and singers – she starts with a sketch on her notepad. She thinks of figures and shapes. She then asks herself how she to translate it to paper. In that stage, she already knows what materials she’ll use, whether that’s paper, paint, or glitter. 

Then, whenever she sketches a video, she thinks about the videoclips of the artists she really loves. She looks for whatever's trending.

“For example, I made a mixed media [art piece] of PinkPantheress’s Stateside song because they released it at that time. So, I said: I’ll take advantage of that and do something chévere with that videoclip,” Kamiru said.

When the initial idea is crystal clear in her mind, she then needs to find a way to print her ideas on paper. She needs to understand what she wants to print so that it becomes a tangible reality. It’s about thinking what she wants to do and communicate. When she’s made a decision about it, the manual aspects come next – her favorite part.

The moment where she sits down to cut, paste, paint, and listen to music or podcasts while creating. It’s the fun and relaxing part for Kamiru. Then, she scans each page and uses the DaVinci Resolve software to edit the animations frame by frame.

Now, when it’s a project for a client, the process is a bit different. When the client does not have a clear idea of what they want, she does mood boards to help guide the ideas better. Once they are well-defined, Kamiru starts conceptualizing them. Then, the story board comes through, so that the clients know exactly what she’s planning for each scene. 

“For example, I’m going to use crumpled paper with pink, it’ll have this type of texture, and there’ll be a transition. So, that’s the stage where the client decides if they want to take out or add something in,” Kamiru said.

It’s the most important part of the process for Kamiru because that means she won’t do any new changes when creating the mixed media art. That’s why it’s key for everything to be approved by the client beforehand.

“No Rules” with Swatch

However, the creative process can have certain variations. That happened with the mixed media artwork she did for the watch brand Swatch. They reached out to her via email and told her they were looking to advertise their new collection “No Rules.” 

At first, she thought they’d need some simple animated photos, but it turned out that they wanted her to use them. They sent her the products to her home and she was quite surprised. No one had asked her for a piece like that one before. 

“I had to do the styling and the photography direction. I had to think about who could take the photos because I wanted something pretty. I didn’t want it to be taken with my cellphone,” Kamiru said. “So, I called a friend who’s a photographer and hired him. I rented a studio and looked for clothes that had a punk aesthetic to match the watches.” 

After all of the extensive production, Kamiru finished the mini animation and they posted it on their social media. It was a super crazy and fun experience for her. An experience she’s really grateful for and proud of.

If you take a closer look at the animations, they clearly portray her beautifully chaotic and colorful aesthetic. A style deeply defined for its crumpled and ripped textured papers. It also noticeably captures her essence as a mixed media artist who really enjoys experimenting with different analogue techniques.

Animating a Reebok Classic

You can also see this innate curiosity for exploration and experimentation in the mixed media art she did for the “Reebok – Club C 85” ad for Reebok Latin America. 

Remember: showcasing her work is what keeps her on a constant growth to attract more clients. This was one of her biggest and greatest opportunities in 2025. One she’s very proud of and really excited about. 

It all began when the team reached out to her while she was traveling to Machu Picchu with her family. When they called her, they were still filming the ad, so she would make it back on time to Lima to get the piece done.

The process for this art work was like the rest whenever she works with clients. She made some story boards and sent them for approval. She worked with the director and editors of the ad, received some feedback, and they trusted her vision. 

She was overly excited for a very specific reason. 

“Jely Reátegui, which is [one of my favorite] Peruvian actresses, appeared in the ad and I was super excited,” Kamiru happily recalled. “It was super chévere.”

Once it was out, she was supper thrilled. Sometimes, she never stops processing the emotions after working for big chambas, or gigs, like this one. Sometimes she doesn’t understand why they called her, but she’s always extremely grateful for the opportunities. 

“I always try to give the best of me in each project so that it turns out as best as possible. It’s also about leaving a good impression of what I do,” Kamiru said. “That it’s a huge chambón, but in the end, it gives it a more chévere touch to an audiovisual piece.” 

She’s always really grateful for the opportunities to freely create in an experimental manner. To create her beautifully chaotic world of experimental mixed media art, she showcases captivating artworks that connect with a very varied audience. 

This can go from an artist’s strong fan base that validates her masterpieces, to her colleagues, friends, family, and more commercial audiences including creative agencies seeking the next big mixed media experimental hit. 

Kamiru simply crafts compelling works of art that easily connect with others and creates a loyal community. A community that is eager to learn about her processes to generate colorful and aesthetic animations, which remind you of her passion to work with her hands.

It speaks to you about her excitement to create and always set the bar higher for what she can craft, while remaining grateful for the opportunities and experiences she’s encountered. 

“Thank you for interviewing me. This is the first time I get interviewed,” Kamiru said happily. 

Listen to Kamiru

0:00

/6.605333

1×

With her gratitude comes a deep feeling of awe, inspiration, and amazement to have the possibility of collaborating with huge brands and artists that are having a global impact in this very specific cultural moment we’re living in. 

“I feel a lot of things that I don’t know how to process. I guess it felt very nice for it to land on that day and everything just connected. That I’m Latin American. That I’m a woman,” Kamiru said. “And that, in some way, I’ve also shared the feeling of the winners of this award.”

To learn more about Kamiru’s beautifully chaotic experimental mixed media art, you can follow her on Instagram at @kamiruuuu. Stay tuned next week for PART II, where we’ll explore how Kamiru landed remarkably outstanding commercial mixed media artworks.

Written by

Share

Copied