About Me
Background
Hi,
You came here to know me a little deeper. I will move from the ground, upwards to the flame in me, then the heart, and finish with my intention.
As my full name says — Yasmin Naila Garcia Avalo Arner — I come from a multicultural family. I was born in Norway and grew up in Spain. Moving several times, I learned to adapt to both warm and colder cultures. This taught me to become a chameleon in new languages and environments — to adapt what is needed to survive, while keeping something unchanging at my core.
When I was 18, I was selected to compete in the TV competition Elite Top Model — Supermodelo 2006. I placed second, which allowed me to live from modelling and build my portfolio. Through this, I traveled the world, explored cultures, and discovered independence earlier than most. These experiences enriched me in ways that are difficult to explain unless you've walked the same path — believe me, I have tried countless times.
The solitude of this lifestyle led me to painting. It became a way to communicate what was too complex, too layered, to put into words.
Passion
When I first discovered art, I learned what expanded passion really felt like. It became one of my languages of communication for the complex subjective experience of being human. A space for expression, impression, and experiential play. These are still the core ingredients of my passion. Basically anything that invites inquiring, exploration and crafting with a purpose.
Little did I know that design would become a profession I love doing. It feels like doing art, but for someone else, and with a team. Within art I have many times free styled with others, with people I know and that I don't know. Its fascinating what one can experience and specially interesting what can come out of a team that clicks well within skills.
Creating, for me, is arranging forms, colors, words, lines, and shapes; understanding layers; eventually the people you work with and for; and shaping something harmonious with a purpose. Through studying design principles, universal design, accessibility, usability, and visualization — I grow as a creatrix.
On one hand, design offers objective rules, boundaries, psychology, and external challenges. On the other, art is a subjective free-space, born from the meeting point of feelings, mind and skills.
In the end, “passion” and “crafting an experience with purpose” are the red thread connecting UX design and art. Holistically, I integrate my interest in the human experience, both objective and subjective, into creation.
Love
Love is the greatest gift and guiding quality of my life. Love has always been my compass.
I grew up in an atheistic home, but one filled with warmth and loving values. Until I was 25, I loved beauty, nature, people, expression, art, traveling, and discovery — mostly material expressions of life. Then one day, I found a type of spirituality through yoga and plant medicines that felt whole and universal.
Where modeling had pushed me into becoming a shell, retreating into protective loneliness, spirituality cracked me open. It gave me the strength to finally let go of the industry. I opened because of love — though, in truth, love was there from the beginning.
From then on, love became my guru. I worked as a photo-retoucher while continuing to travel, this time without selling my soul in superficial, ephemeral ecosystems. I fell in love with getting to know my body and mind through yoga. I loved creating images that revealed the many aspects of being human. I loved inquiring into the mysteries of reality's complexity.
Then I met Thomas — an artistic soul like myself. We have been together for eight years now, constantly working on ourselves so we can spread and embody the love — both soft and strong — that the world needs. Life with him, and our dog Luna, led me back to Norway to study design and to expand my artistic expression. Having a stable and loving partner is, to me, a manifestation of how far I have come in my commitment to live with integrity, where love is my only religion.
I design my life around love. Even when creating for others, I seek to see them, to understand them.
The love in me wants to expand. If you have read this far, you probably know what I mean. Beyond systems, beyond structures — simply, being loving.
Intention
In yoga, in spirituality, in art, and in design — intention is the key to achievement. It is the focal energy we set for what we do.
My intention with this page is to exist in the digital space as who I am, here and now. To showcase my services for growth and beauty. To reach more people in a clean, authentic way. To learn and to contribute — designing ecosystems, projects, and products with harmony.
I intend to live a sustainable life with freedom. One where I create art because I love it, not because I must sell it. Where my art can remain as my own sacred way of atuning to complex subjective concepts, something I do in my free time and create authentically.
I wish to assist businesses design experiences and services so they can grow, and their users feel happy because they meet less friction and insecurity. I will use all these experiences for my own growth, both internally and externally. I also commit to find solutions to problems, use my creative mind and my presence to create the change that benefits the purpose/goal.
I also want to share my embodied work with yoga and self-development, offering others a happier, stronger, more flexible, and freer life. My deepest intention is to leave a positive trace and inspire change where it is needed. In this I will keep expanding and deepening my self throughout life.
Thank you for reading... Contact me for questions