Circular Reflections

Mabelin Castellanos’s thread paintings operate as quiet, intense excavations of domestic memory, transient spaces, and the overlooked architectures of everyday life. Her quilted vignettes act as tactile thresholds where time appears suspended, capturing the subtle geometry of casual conversations, lonely interiors, and coastal horizons through dense networks of fiber. Rather than applying traditional paint, she draws directly onto the textile substrate with her sewing machine, allowing overlapping lines of thread to build complex figurative contours over minimalist swaths of cotton and repurposed cloth. Juxtaposing her rigorous background as a research scientist with an intuitive, self-taught fiber methodology, Castellanos crafts universal visual parables that strip away superficial layers to honor the enduring dignity and resilience of the human spirit.

Academic Foundations: Born in Havana, Cuba, in 1958. She pursued advanced empirical scientific training, culminating in a Master of Science (MS) in Neuroscience from the National Center for Scientific Research (Neuroscience Center) in Havana, Cuba, graduating in 1984. She transitioned into a professional fine arts track as a completely self-taught textile and fiber artist beginning in 2016.

Institutional Service & Parallel Disciplines: Prior to her entry into the contemporary art community, she dedicated more than thirty years to a highly demanding professional career as a research scientist. Her rigorous background in laboratory methodology, empirical observation, and neurological mapping deeply informs the structural precision, multi-layered density, and technical discipline of her contemporary fiber art direction.

Exile, Translocation & Relocations: Born and educated in Havana, Cuba, she underwent a major geographic and cultural translocation, permanently relocating to the United States. She established her residence and primary creative practice within the coastal diaspora hub of Miami Beach, Florida, where her migration milestones directly influenced her ongoing thematic investigations into transient environments and coastal beachscapes.

Current Status: She currently maintains an active, full-time professional studio practice in Miami Beach, Florida, focusing on textile snapshots, exploring ecological and social narratives through fabric scrap curation, and continuously expanding her institutional exhibition footprint through commercial representation.

• The American Heritage & Domestic Snapshot Series: This series focuses on quiet, intense excavations of domestic memory, transient spaces, and the quiet beauty of everyday life, capturing casual conversations and lonely interiors through minimalist swaths of cotton.
• The Beachscapes & Coastal Horizons Series: This body of work utilizes free-motion machine stitching over repurposed cloth and fabric scrap curation to construct tactile vignettes of coastal landscapes, exploring spatial phenomenology and deep themes of geographic dislocation.

This artist has participated in 3 solo exhibitions:

• 2025: Take Care, The CAMP Gallery, North Miami, FL. (Online exclusive solo presentation exploring ecological and domestic healing themes).
• 2023: Alone With Her Head, The CAMP Gallery, North Miami, FL. (Commercial gallery solo debut curated by Maria Gabriela Di Giammarco).
• 2022: Quilted Tales, The CAMP Gallery, North Miami, FL. (Inaugural solo online exhibition launching her narrative textile snapshots portfolio).

• 2026: Circular Reflections, Westchester Regional Library, Miami, FL.
• 2025: Feria Clandestina: Room 201, Miami Art Week, Miami, FL.
• 2025: The Four Elements: Earth, Fire, Water and Air, XI World Textile Art Biennial (WTA), Miami International Fine Art Gallery (MIFA), Miami, FL.
• 2025: Threading the Americas from North to South, FAMA Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas (MOCAA), Miami, FL.
• 2025: Miami Resilience Group Show, Les Couleurs Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2025: Salon: Exhibition and Art Auction, Arts and Cultural Center, Hollywood, FL.
• 2025: 7th Annual Business for the Art of Broward: Art and Stroll, Ft. Lauderdale, FL.
• 2025: Ancestral Lines, Coral Springs Museum, FAMA Exhibition, Coral Springs, FL.
• 2024: Group Show, Les Couleurs Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2024: Hyphenated Cultures, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL.
• 2024: Empty Walls, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL.
• 2024: Honoring the Women, Milander Center for the Arts, Miami, FL.
• 2024: Internal Voice, Lionard Redman Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2024: 6th Art + Stroll 2024, Annual Business for the Arts of Broward (BFA), Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• 2024: Group Show, Les Couleurs Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2024: 19th Annual Art Competition, Studio 18 Art Complex, Pembroke Pines, FL.
• 2024: First Anniversary Show, Les Couleurs Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2024: 8th Annual Café con Arte Exhibit, Futurama 1637 Art Galleries, Miami, FL.
• 2024: Art Contest Awards 2024, MIA Curatorial Projects, Wynwood Juried Show, Miami, FL.
• 2024: Political Circus: Unraveling, Rockford Project, Florida Atlantic University Galleries, Schmidt Center, Boca Raton, FL.
• 2024: Unraveling Surrealism: Celebrating Women’s Narratives through Contemporary Fiber Art, Harvest Project Galleries, FAMA Exhibition, Pinecrest Gardens, FL.
• 2024: We got the Power: 6th Edition of Women Pulling at the Fabric of Social Discourse, The Contemporary Art Modern Project Gallery (CAMP), Miami, FL.
• 2024: Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Art, City of Doral Art Center, Doral, FL.
• 2024: La Mano Hispana, Milander Center for the Arts, Hialeah, FL.
• 2024: Kovens Cultural Art Series, Florida Atlantic University, Kovens Art Center, Miami, FL.
• 2024: Miami Art Week, Spectrum Art Fair, Solo Booth 1122, Redwood Art Group, Miami, FL.
• 2023: Oceans Away, Gallery One of Fort Lauderdale – A Doubletree Suites by Hilton, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• 2023: Nude, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2023: SuperFine Art Fair Miami 2023, The Ice Palace, Miami, FL.
• 2023: Women, HMVC Gallery, New York, NY.
• 2023: Over the Rainbow, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL.
• 2023: Women’s History Month at the CAMP Gallery: Spotlighting the women artists of CAMP, The Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2023: 5th Art + Stroll 2023, Annual Business for the Arts of Broward (BFA), Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• 2023: Women in Art 2023, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2023: Artists of Miami 2023, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2023: Cycles: The States of Motherhood, Miami International Art Center (MIFA), Miami, FL.
• 2023: Take me, Take This. Embracing Queer Narratives, Miami International Art Center (MIFA), Miami, FL.
• 2023: Make it like a native, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL.
• 2023: Hispanic, Herpanic your Panic, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL.
• 2023: Denim, Miami International Art Center (MIFA), Miami, FL.
• 2023: El Cafecito, The Box Gallery, West Palm Beach, FL.
• 2023: Downtown Art Week, Les Couleurs Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2022: Femina 2022 Exhibition, Gallerium Art Gallery, Canada.
• 2022: Woman 2022 Exhibition, Exhibizone Gallery, Ontario, Canada.
• 2022: Women’s History Month – Looking at the CAMP Women, For Women by a Woman, The Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2022: Women in Art 2022, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2022: Maritime Art, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2022: Urban Art, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2022: Floral Art, Curators Collection, Gallea Online Collection Exhibit, Canada.
• 2022: Empty Walls, Coral Springs Museum of Art, Coral Springs, FL.
• 2022: Women pulling at the threads of social discourse, Museum of Contemporary Art, MOCA Westport, Westport, CT.
• 2022: The Quilt Show, FAMA and guests, Westport edition, The Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) Gallery, Westport, CT.
• 2022: Portals, Artnezs Portal and FAMA Threading the City, Miami, FL.
• 2022: In the Search of Dreams, The Migrant Experience, Cultural Institute at the Mexican Consulate in Miami and FAMA Threading the City, Miami, FL.
• 2022: A Room of One’s Own, The Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) Gallery and FAMA Threading the City, Miami, FL.
• 2022: Life at Street Level, Harvest Project at Pinecrest Gardens and FAMA Threading the City, Pinecrest, FL.
• 2022: ArtBox.Projects Miami 3.0, ArtBox.Projects Wynwood Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2022: Small Works, Broward Art Guild Gallery, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
• 2021: 64 women pulling at the threads of social discourse, A Group Quilting Exhibition, The Contemporary Art Modern Project (CAMP) Gallery / FAMA Organization, Miami, FL.
• 2018: Material: An Exhibition of Original Fiber Artworks from Across the Country, D’Art Gallery, Norfolk, VA.
• 2018: Women’s Works 2018 – 31st Annual Show, NAAC, Woodstock, IL.
• 2018: 2018 Art of Possibilities – 54th Annual Art Show, Courage Kenny Foundation, Minneapolis, MN.
• 2018: Threads, Braids and Fibers Exhibition, Little White Box Gallery, Miami,
• 2017: FiberOptics, HarriesArt Gallery, Miami, FL.
• 2017: Life’s a Beach, Maria Paz Gallery, Lake Worth, FL.

• 2024: Art Contest Award, MIA Curatorial Projects / Wynwood Juried Show, Miami, FL.

• 2026: InCUBAdora. “Catálogo: Reflexiones Circulares [Curaduría: Miguel Rodez].” InCUBAdora, March 24, 2026. This Spanish-language digital catalog concisely summarizes the contemporary art documentation project, Circular Reflections, which brings together contemporary artists at the Westchester Regional Library. The comprehensive published artist roster explicitly registers fiber artist Mabelin Castellanos as a selected participant.
• 2025: The CAMP Gallery. “Artist Spotlights: Q&A Interview with Mabelin Castellanos.” The CAMP Gallery Journal, March 12, 2025. This comprehensive primary source text profiles her conceptual journey from the neuroscience laboratory to thread painting, detailing her In Winter (2025) masterpiece and her unique free-motion machine stitching methodology.
• 2024: Create Whimy. “Spotlight: Mabelin Castellanos, Textile Artist.” Create Whimsy Profiles, June 18, 2024. A dedicated technical and critical feature tracking her studio transitions, analyzing her self-taught fiber art direction, and evaluating her approach to thread-based draftsmanship.
• 2024: Miami Art Scene. “Unraveling Surrealism and Contemporary Fiber Art Narratives.” Miami Art Scene News, September 14, 2024. An exhibition profile and critical review evaluating her gallery disruptions and participation in the South Florida contemporary textile movement.
• 2024: ArtDaily. “Celebrating Women’s Narratives Through Contemporary Fiber Art.” ArtDaily Art Market Reports, September 20, 2024. A thematic evaluation reviewing her textile snapshot miniatures and her distinct structural use of fabric scrap curation.
• 2023: Frame and Flame. “Get Cozy with Quilt Art: Spotlight on Mabelin Castellanos.” Frame and Flame Artist in Focus Series, July 26, 2023. A dedicated multimedia feature exploring her sudden pivot from long-term scientific research to her tranquil Miami Beach fiber studio, providing critical evaluation of her Beachscapes series and her narrative approach to textile vignettes.
• 2023: R10 Echoes. “Beauty as Protest: The Pattern & Decoration Movement.” Echoes Art Culture Logs, September 11, 2023. A movement-based feature contextualizing her micro-quilting methodology within the modern resurgence of the Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement, analyzing how her observational scientific background translates directly into textile snapshots.

• The CAMP Gallery Permanent Roster Archive (North Miami, FL).
• The Museum of Contemporary Art of the Americas (MOCAA) Exhibition Registries (Miami, FL).
• ARRAE Gallery Fine Art Portfolio (Miami, FL).
• International Private Collections across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean (Featuring works from her Beachscapes, Interiors, Friendship, and Social Concerns series).