![]() ![]() In Promesa (or Promise), Flores used the wavy leaf prickly pear cacti for its thicker and bigger pads and its resilient nature. It seems so far back to think about those things and those prints help me remember.” Audrya Flores, Promesa (detail), 2019, cactus, marble chips, lava rock, wheat, coffee beans, flowersĪfter working with cacti for roughly seven years, Flores has studied its texture, body, healing elements, and adaptive tendencies. In this story, I am reaching back to the person/kid, before I started having all this anxiety, before I was traumatized, before I really struggled. Some of them are so faded only on one side. They have this residual energy - people have slept there, they have dreamt there. She uses bedsheets as a derivative representation of sacred space, bed/bedroom, where one is at their most exposed. Through her use of vintage linen bedsheets to allude to a time of innocence and easier times, Flores also adds a layer of intimacy and vulnerability to the space. By nature and last name, Audrya Flores is drawn to plants and animals and wanted to create a safe space. With warm colors and a floral background on each self-portrait, the artist invites the viewer to a Garden of Eden of sorts. She has allowed me to shed the skin like a snake. What is really happening, the snake has given herself and has allowed me to recreate a safe space and gather myself again for the real world. “It is important for me to communicate it isn’t that the snake consumes me and I end up defeating the snake. Audrya Flores, Tending To, 2019, latex paint on stretched vintage linen, 48 x 72 inches The snake is actually protecting her back and providing that safe space for the figure to regenerate. Despite the monstrous-looking snake, Flores explains that this composition is meant to represent a moment of healing. In Tending To, the viewer is drawn to the overall heart-shaped composition, but upon closer examination, you can see a female figure curled up in a fetal position and a snake back to back. ![]() ![]() I wanted to convey both the affection I feel for that serpent energy but also the respect and awe of it.” Flores also shared that her open dialogue about her artwork with her 6-year-old son helped her shape the features in the snake. In these sequential self-portraits and site-specific installation, it was important to the artist to depict the serpent as a benign protector and mediator. ![]() What else would I call onto to devour this sickness within me? It was the serpent.”Īs the serpent represents rebirth, being uncomfortable in your skin and being forced to grow, it has been a powerful tool for healing in Audrya’s life. She IS the serpent and she comes to dominate what you ask her to dominate. She’s not like Santa Marta Dominadora she isn’t coming to defeat a serpent or dominate it. “I read about what represented, it struck a chord. That’s when she came across Filomena Lubana. Flores explained that most catholic saints and deities have synchronized representations within other religions. As Flores became enthralled with the image of the serpent, she learned about how Santa Marta Dominadora had been portrayed and rendered in other religions. In folklore, Santa Marta Dominadora was the only female dragon/snake slayer and is popular in Hoodoo for the domination and control of problems, situations, and people in the lives of practitioners. It was during a guided imagery intervention that Flores fixated on the image of Santa Marta Dominadora in one of her candles. With a recurring visual vocabulary of a serpent, the artist addresses trauma, mental health, and issues of identity within her work.īeing very transparent about her battle with depression and anxiety, Audrya Flores opened up to us about her professional counseling, therapeutic practices, and an extensive collection of religious candles. In her solo exhibition, Digging, on view at the Central Library gallery, Flores repurposes textiles and organic materials to create six self-portraits and a floor piece. However, for San Antonio based artist, Audrya Flores, the serpent represents a creative life force, rebirth, transformation, but most importantly healing. Aside from being highly scared of them, I attribute this association with my religious upbringing. When I first think about snakes, I immediately think of serpents as a symbol of evil power and chaos from the underworld. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |