Kerrature: "It is surnames, contacts, and economic inheritance that mark the glass ceiling"

The illustrator Queralt Guinart, Kerrature (Moià, 1996), grew up in a family of artists, studied graphic design and, when she finished her degree, she hit a dark wall: “I wasn't accepted into any master's programs and I couldn't find a job because my portfolio was different, it was very plastic and didn't adapt well to the job offers available in Barcelona”. At just over 22 years old, she opted for the option that allowed her to work as an illustrator: becoming self-employed.I had previously worked in the family printing business, in summer camps as a counselor, and in the hospitality sector. In fact, I was there for five years and combined it with the commissions they asked for, many without pay, to make a name for myself. “In the beginning, you accept everything because you need the money,” she recalls. Over time, however, this dynamic changes: “You start to get angry because you find yourself doing jobs that have nothing to do with your style, you have to carry your back with questionable decisions. But at the same time, you still need the money.”Professional development involves learning to say no: "You end up being selective, but that doesn't mean you like all jobs stylistically." These are jobs, however, in which Guinart feels minimally well-paid. "You have to learn to give up many things to find economic stability that allows you to understand that life is not work," she defends. And she continues: "The jobs I feel like doing are one or two a year, and they are not the ones that pay the best."Despite everything, the trajectory is not linear. Two years ago, there was a period without any assignments: "No work in a year." Faced with this, a dilemma arose: abandon the personal project or accept less ideal jobs to continue. He chose to continue: "What is worse: not having work or taking on projects that are not what you had imagined?" However, he will never betray his principles: "I will not work with far-right companies or those that use LGTBI rights for whitewashing, for example."Stopping to get inspired, he says, is a privilege that moves away from class discourse. Few artists can "stop to contemplate the birds." Guinart claims her work as a craft: "I work by contributing my sensitivity and, obviously, to train it I have had to study and invest my free time in cultivating it." But beyond training and inspiration, daily life involves constant management and there is no time for contemplation: "It requires close connection with the client, with emails of feedback, budget negotiations... Meanwhile, you are not drawing or designing. So, I like to work on weekends because I know they won't call me." It is for this very reason that she is already working at six in the morning, so she has the early morning to concentrate without interruptions.Theirs, then, is a "difficult life choice". Not only because "it is a deeply precarious sector", but because you can progress until you hit a glass ceiling marked by origins: "It's surnames, contacts, and economic inheritance". Overcoming it is exceptional, and only then do you access the luxury industry, where conditions change radically: "There is a very big gap between those at the bottom and those at the top, many thousands of euros, and there are no middle classes". In this scenario, working for luxury brands often appears as "the only option" to aspire to a stable life.Insecurity is added to precariousness: "Fear of losing my job? Constantly," he admits. The arrival of artificial intelligence has eliminated many small jobs that served as an entry point to the sector, while social networks, his main showcase, offer less and less visibility: "You fight all the time with this fear of becoming unfashionable." And he adds: "The current geopolitical situation also puts you on high alert."Guinart defends that, within the creative world, the economy is often underestimated, because they don't feel addressed by it, but in the system we live in "everything we do has a price": "We have to achieve that the system is friendly while we don't change it". In his case, his authorship is what has value: "I have to control where I put my name".Looking to the future, Guinart is starting to consider new ways of working, and would like to create her own structure. "Setting up a company, a studio to be less alone." A way to seek stability in a profession where it is difficult to find it.