Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Manuel earned a law degree before moving to New York in 1999. She later pursued art studies at the School of Visual Arts, New York University, and Parsons School of Design. After stepping away from her art practice for nearly two decades while raising her four children, Manuel returned to her studio and established a full-time practice. 

Working across painting and mixed-media, Manuel combines traditional art materials with natural materials such as sand, stone, silk, and wood. Her work is distinguished by layered surfaces and subtle transitions of tone and color, often using repetition and rhythm to create shifts in perception as the viewer moves between distance and proximity.  

Manuel has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions and art fairs in the United States and internationally. Her work is held in private collections in the United States and abroad.