Crisselle Mendiola

Crisselle is an illustrator, muralist, and designer currently based in Santa Ana, CA. She graduated from California State University, Long Beach in 2018 with a B.F.A in Illustration, though her will to create started from the womb. Crisselle’s work has recurring themes of being character driven and emotionally charged. She enjoys expanding her creative range as she has a colorful artistic background. This can be seen from her experience working as a freelance illustrator and muralist, creating public art for cities, to scenic background painting at theme parks.

Crisselle has worked with notable clients such as Google, American Express, Converse, Behr Paints, and the University of Harvard. She’s also been a featured artist for the international mural festival, World Wide Walls.

“Coffee Break” is a piece that was worked on in the span of 3 years. Starting the painting in the midst of lockdown, its initial intention was to portray a sadness of missing the life of before. There was a pause once the process hit a wall and the state of the world distracted from it. The painting was bare. Two years later, after much contemplation of whether to start over or not, it was decided that it would continue on. The piece was finished with a more optimistic and hopeful view, with a new appreciation for nature and for the small things that keep us going. The process for “Coffee Break” is a reminder of how we are human, and how we’re capable of keeping on.