Photographed and Styling By: Polet Guzman

Polet, designer of Muza, and Lorna Hernández met in art school in San Juan, Puerto Rico when she was in her last year of college and Lorna was a freshman. She describes Lorna as being enchanting, due in part to her beauty, the way she carries herself and her ability to uplift the women around her. Polet immediately fell in love with her, and she became one of her muses for her paintings and designs. Lorna is blooming into an artist whose work inspires other women to follow their passions. Her example teaches us that life doesn’t happen to you, it happens for you and you can truly be who you want to be in life through hard work, patience, and love.

Who is your current muse?

Anatomy plays a large role in my artwork, so I follow a couple of artists that really influence my current work like, Luis Caballero, Adam Martinakis, Andrey Samarin, Anders Rokkum (his line work is so gooooood!). I get a lot of photographic inspiration as well, especially with body movement and I am super into modern dance pictures, for example. I also like pictures that can tell a story like the work of Miranda Makaroff, Delfina Carmona, Tono Stano, Perazna and Nasty Magazine. They all give me a serious lady boner for their content.

What does it mean to you to be a muse for other women?

Its an honor! I truly believe that when you live your life with an open heart, it will always connect you to the right people at the right time; so if for a second I inspire someone or someone inspires me, I cherish that moment and take a beautiful memory with me.

What is your life motto or favorite quotes?

Always be yourself, and be honest with yourself. Even if it hurts, it will get you farther in life than not being or not doing the things that you really want to do. Life is too short. And also, “Todo va a estar bien.”

If you could choose a song to describe your life, which would it be?

That is a hard one! I have a LOT of songs to choose from. But there’s one that is definitely a personal timeless song for me that I recently reconnected with. Move Along from The All-American Rejects was a song that I listened to in high school during my “emo” stage (YES! I was one for a time) and I was going through a lot of trauma during that time and it truly helped me to cope. Music has always been a form of therapy for me. I was making a playlist recently and I found myself listening to all my high school bands. In listening to this music again, I felt like that weird kid back in 2009 was just trying to feel like life isn't as bad as you think and you truly have the inner strength to move forward no matter the circumstance. Plus, Move Along is just an awesome car jam I will sing my lungs out to forever!

How does living in Puerto Rico inspire you to create?

To be honest, sometimes I feel like one can trail off easily. The Puerto Rican culture can be very distracting and staying grounded can be a challenge. You can fall into a pattern with the social life and then guilt sets in as you chug down “la última” for the third time. It's a love and hate relationship. As you grow older and realize what your priorities are and that no one will do anything for your future except yourself, you start putting your life first and “jangeos” for later. But that is where a strength of creating lies: to make time for it and feel amazing afterwards.

What is your voice as a Puerto Rican female artist?

Work for you. For your stability, for your emotional, physical and mental health. Do it all with confidence and love. Knowing when to make the necessary sacrifices and changes, and whether you are right and wrong, it's part of it. Life will teach you many things and it's in our power to be open with everything while also knowing that later you will probably just laugh about it. It will kind of make you go crazy but just be okay with it!

What has been most inspiring to you about Casa Muza?

Learning what it means to be a woman. Polet (Casa Muza’s creator) and I have shared so many moments of clarity and emotional honesty. By being, not just women, but human beings and understanding that we are not alone. As women we are not easy and yet we bring a balance to everything. We are not perfect, just real and accepting. We lift each other up from places we felt we couldn’t. That’s my belief, true support, especially in a community where competition is norm. We don’t want to compete. The genuine desire to support and listen to each other.