Chuli, the Young Artist Becoming Everything He Said He’d Become

“I feel like I’m someone very energetic… someone that shows love.” That’s how Orlando Jeremiah Cueva, better known as Chuli, introduces himself, but that barely scratches the surface. At just 18, the Ecuadorian-born, New York-raised creative is moving like someone with years behind him, not ahead.

Before the paintings, before the modeling, before people started paying attention, there was an environment. Ecuador. Family. Creativity is embedded in everyday life. “A lot of my family members have talent; they were all into art,” he says. His mom, a nail tech with an eye for design. His brother “shaped everything that I love and I know now.”

That influence stuck early. At four years old, Chuli picked up a pencil and drew a realistic shark, and that was his first signal that what he just tapped into wasn’t only curiosity, but rather something deeper, such as instinct.

Still, it took time to understand that instinct meant something bigger. For a while, everything like boxing, skating, drawing, and moving through the city felt like a hobby. Then one moment shifted everything. “When I saw my first piece sell in Australia, I was like, wow, I’m really an artist.” A small painting, posted without expectation, was gone within the week. Proof that what he had could travel further than he imagined.

That realization was reinforced again in ways that felt just as surreal. One day, Chuli brought a painting of his to school and, almost on impulse, decided to drop it off at Lower East Side art studio, LAAMS NYC, during lunch. “I was like, I’m just gonna leave it there and see what happens,” he recalls. Hours later, after school ended, he went back. “They were like, ‘Chuli, your painting sold.’ I was like, get out of here, no way.” The piece had sold the same day. “It’s insane… I dropped it off during lunch and came back, and it sold.” 

For him, moments like that aren’t luck. “Everything I do, I want to give glory to God. He made this all happen.”

Since then, there’s been no slowing down.

His work carries a signature energy with bright, unapologetic color, layered with movement and personality. That visual language traces back to his brother, who pushed him to break down the creative barriers early. “He told me, ‘break those norms, do what you like.’” Chuli took that literally. Where others saw boundaries in color, he saw freedom.

That same mindset spills into everything else he does in his daily life. Skateboarding. Fashion. Modeling. All of it intertwined. Chuli explained that skateboarding itself was like an art form and that street culture naturally merged into his world. It’s why his paintings don’t feel confined. They feel lived in.

Even his recurring rabbit character isn’t forced. Chuli looked at his pet bunny and saw himself in animal form. Observant, existing in its own space. From that moment, the character became part of his visual identity.

Day to day, Chuli moves with intention, even if it doesn’t look structured. School during the week. Streets on his own time. Canvases in hand, spray paint ready, creating wherever he lands. Sometimes pieces sell within days. Sometimes faster.

There’s no waiting for permission here.

Because for Chuli, it’s all about scaling his brand. “I want my art everywhere on trains, in stores, all over the city.” But beyond visibility, there does remain purpose. He’s thinking about the next generation, especially Latino kids who don’t always see creative paths as possible.

“I want to prove they can do more.” And if everything goes the way he’s moving, they won’t just see it. They’ll be surrounded by it all thanks to the glory of God. 

Chuli will be on every wall.