Camila Navas - Founder of Nlumec, entrepreneur and artist

For over 5,000 years, humans have utilized candles for survival, ritual, and ambiance. The concept has cemented itself into our daily lives and become a beacon of comfort. Camila Navas, seeing beyond the most practical and mundane use, has taken the candle a step further. Nlumec creates nothing short of art in a wax form that blurs the lines between stand-alone sculptures and comforting home decor. Turncoat got ahold of Camila to discuss Nlumec and her life as an artist and entrepreneur.

Introduce yourself.

- My name is Camila Navas. I am an artist and designer living in Brooklyn, NY. I have a design-based studio where we create sculptural forms made of wax, plastic, and plaster.

How did Nlumec come about?

- I originally started with Nlumec right after I graduated from college. Since everyone was scrambling for work in 2020, I tried to find something I could use my degree for. I went to school for art history, sculpting, and painting at Hunter College. I learned a lot there about sculpting and materials, how to really utilize them. So I started playing around with mold-making and casting with wax and plaster. It came about that everyone was investing in their homes since we were spending so much time inside. My boyfriend is an architect, so he formulated the designs in CAD, then we 3D printed them. I'm really the hands of the business, the artist, and the one making the candles. We are working on scaling our operation. We have a factory in Guadalajara, Mexico, that we are working with now, which is so exciting since that is the city of artists. We have been working very closely with them to ensure that what I have created here is carried out there. It really fell in our laps.

What drew you to creating candles?

- I think Candles are such a great niche; everyone enjoys them. Throughout history, candlelight has always brought people together through candlelit dinners, ceremonies, religious gatherings, food, music, fun so many things are surrounded by candles. They add to the ambiance, wherever you put them. They are an art form. We were actually featured on a list with Le Labo, Jo Malone and Diptyque; to me that was the point where I thought, "wow, we made it." We were being highlighted next to these other candles that I adore, that I grew up buying and spending my whole paychecks on. Just for that vibe, that luxury, to feel special in my home.

How do you balance owning a business and content creation?

- It's been a bit of a struggle more recently, but great that we have this office space. My boyfriend has been able to help me a lot on the brand side of things. I fall into the content creation area since I do work in content creation in my personal life; I do create for many brands and do brand consulting. I try to mesh that with Nlumec. When I graduated, I didn't have the structure of school anymore, so creating this company has helped me to get that back. I go straight to the office in the morning, start the wax melter and have my day set out for the next 5-6 hours there. When I come home in the afternoon, I will do personal content creation. It has been interesting to teach myself how to be an entrepreneur and find that balance.

What is it like being a woman in the world of art?

- For me, I think being a woman is constantly trying to prove that you are capable and worth the respect. It is obviously something we need more of. We need more women in these spaces of design and art. It's all about uplifting other women and sharing your secrets. I do not gatekeep. I think it is super important to share how you have gotten where you are.

Check out Nlumec here and on instagram at @Nlumec as well as Camila Navas @camimaecool

Cover photo by: Mark Seliger