The Latina artist turning the city of South Central into a canvas

Jackelinne Gallardo, also known by her artistic name, Magical Youniverse, is a 28-year-old from South Central Los Angeles who is turning her neighborhood walls into vibrant reflections of culture, resilience and possibility. Blending surrealism with cultural pride, she reshapes public spaces and challenges her community to see itself in a new light.

Since she was a little girl, Gallardo has always loved to draw. She describes herself as an introvert growing up, often finding it difficult to express herself out loud. Art became her refuge and a safe space where she could communicate feelings she didn’t have the words for. Through sketchbooks and pencils, she discovered a powerful form of self-expression that allowed her voice to emerge quietly yet boldly, letting her imagination take shape on paper.

During her teenage years, she recalls feeling depressed and even more introverted than when she was a kid. “I feel like art really gave me a safe space to express how I was feeling, especially in like Latino households or at least for mine, depression and anxiety [were] never talked about,” she said. Dealing with those mental health challenges and having to navigate them by herself, she felt alone.

It wasn’t until Gallardo began sharing her art on Instagram that she started receiving positive feedback from followers, helping her envision a real career path in the art industry. “I also realized, oh, there's a way like people who get paid for this and I'm like wait, I would love to do that,” she said.

Initially, she started with drawing and then eventually moved to painting. Some of her artistic influences involve cartoons that she loved during her childhood years, such as Strawberry Shortcake, The Powerpuff Girls, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Rugrats. “I really liked watching them. They're not realistic artwork and they keep that imaginative world alive like the inner child alive,” she said.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

How does your Latina identity influence your work? 

“I grew up not really seeing a lot of Brown representation characters like in Barbies. Now things have changed a little bit, but when I was younger, I didn't really see any Latina representation. So I think since it was my narrative and my sketchbook growing up, my drawings would be Brown because it would be me drawing them, like something that would represent me. It was just a way to express myself and like to feel seen through my work and that's one aspect of it. I also think what I've been trying to channel more recently through my art is to explore my Guatemalan culture just because I don't really see that a lot.

“I think there's a lot of Mexican representation and I'm all for it, like, hell yeah, but I think growing up I was like, wait, I'm not considered a Chicana. I'm not Mexican and I never really seen Guatemalan representation and now I'm starting to see a bit more of it. I'm exploring more of my culture, like drawing a quetzal, the national bird of Guatemala, or using vibrant colors because that's so natural to my ancestors. There's just a lot of colors and patterns that they weave and like their cultural clothing. So I think just trying to tap more into my cultural background feels nice just because you're asserting your presence.

 It's just an honor to our parents, grandparents and great grandparents who paved the way for us to be here and be able to express the things that we do.”

What role do you think murals play in shaping a neighborhood’s identity?

“I think it’s really important, especially because sometimes the city brings in artists from outside who don’t really know the community. There’s something powerful about having community artists, people who grew up here, creating art for the neighborhoods they call home. Who understands the experience better than someone who’s lived it? There’s beauty in creating something for the community by someone from the community, or from a similar background. It asserts our presence. It says, ‘We’re here. This is us.’ And it helps preserve our stories. I know there's a lot of murals that tell stories of the community, so that's also really important just to not forget the history and also the representation.”

Have you seen your work impact the South Central community in unexpected ways?

“I have and I don't even know what to think of it. When I paint, I don't do it with an expectation; I paint because like I say it in Spanish, ‘me nace,’and intuitively, I just feel like doing it and if I don't do it, I'm not really expressing myself. So I paint because I love to paint. I also love the community I grew up in, but I think posting it online has impacted the way that people perceive it. For example, one time I painted this mural with my friend in South Central, like we transformed this wall for two small businesses, and I posted a video, and then it went kind of viral, and later on, I went to an event and people wanted to take pictures with me and I was like, what? I just didn't understand the impact it has until I have interactions like that and not just because it went viral. But because the person who was taking the picture was asking for her daughters. She was, like, your work is inspiring to them, and I was speechless to that, just because I’m really putting my art out there to inspire little girls and it's doing just exactly that, it was definitely an emotional moment for me. The depressed little old me feels seen and it makes me excited to keep doing it and hopefully keep inspiring people to keep doing what they wanna do.”

How do you navigate creative blocks or setbacks?

“Oh my God, that's tough. I've had really bad artist blocks. I think it always depends on where I'm at in life. If I'm in a lot of stress, or it's a stressful season of my life and I'm trying to force myself to be creative, like it's just not gonna work out. So instead of forcing myself it becomes a reminder to myself that I'm not a machine and art can't be forced.

“When I’m feeling a really heavy art block, I try to step away from it. I’ll go for a run or a walk, try a new place to eat, hang out with friends, go dance, anything that helps me de-stress. Sometimes I’ll watch a movie or do something that takes my mind off the pressure of feeling like, ‘I have to create, I have to create.’ Because when I force it like that, it never works out. So I have to distract myself, have fun in other places, and that usually inspires me to come back and create something.”

What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on so far?

“My favorite project was the mural I created with my friend. I think that just because I was painting with someone else, and because of what we were able to create, which was a bigger mural for these two smaller business and I really loved that project because I think it brought a big smile to the owners' faces just because their places do get tagged up a lot and it doesn't really bring a lot of customers to their work.

“So just embarking on that project and creating something that was catered to each business; one of the businesses was a Guatemalan lady and she was selling Guatemalan products and the other guy, he sells glasses and I think it's cute to create something nice for them and for them to enjoy the reveal and see the smile on their faces I think that's very rewarding and then even more like just seeing the reactions from the community when they pass by the businesses. It's not only beautiful for the shop owners, but also for the community itself. You can see how happy they are to see that there's color in their community, and I think that's why that's my favorite project so far.”

What message do you hope people take away when they see your work?

“When people see my work, I want them to feel excited. I want them to feel some inner child energy coming through and feminine vibes. I feel like I love the color pink, and when I was little, I didn't like it because I was like, ew, pink is for girls, and I'm like, girl, you are one. Just reclaiming that feminine energy isn't weakness and it's like badass and powerful so I love using pink and do like girly things, so when people see my work, I want to make the girlies, the gays and everyone feel excited and feel that fem energy, inner child and just inspire others to do something creative.”