Zaadia Flores is a Senior Bachelor of Fine Arts major at Valdosta State University in Valdosta, Georgia. She was born in Belize City, Belize. But, she transferred to Valdosta State University in 2017 to complete her last two years of college. During her art career, Flores has created and conveyed visual and tactile finishes in media such as ceramics, printmaking, photography, and metalsmithing. Flores presented a total of four artworks for the “Valdosta State University Dedo Maranville 2019 Senior Exhibition.” The three abstract color photography artworks and one fabric and metal artwork consisted of visual and tactile textures. Oneirodynia was made from fibers and metal. The other three artworks were digital photography: Granmamare, Volneniye, and Creation of Adam.
Some of her earliest memories were not made up of people or events, rather textures and feelings forever embedded in her brain. Yet, there was one event that traumatized her as a child. She almost drowned. Flores used to paint waves because she felt it was a representation of how she felt. But, her passion shifted to textures over time. Flores expressed in her artist statement posted in the gallery, “For me, texture evokes emotions; a smooth silk sheet invoking a feeling of luxury and a slimy texture calls forth the feeling of discomfort or disgust.” During the interview, she mentioned the slimy texture could be created from oils and dish detergent captured through digital photography. She hopes her exploration of surfaces in her art intrigues the viewer to recall memories. Flores strives for her work to evoke reactions from the viewer, whatever the reaction may be.
Flores decided not to frame any of her digital photography pieces to avoid losing the crisp and sharp professional finish. She loves how the artwork is contained within that composition and ends where it ends. For the digital photography process, the composition only lasts 2 minutes. So, the shutter speed has to be fast. Flores explains, “Only one good picture can be taken out of hundreds of others.” Professor John Gheesling taught her about shutter speed and exposure. Flores expressed that the hard part about it was the one second shutter speeds. During her color photography course, Professor Gheesling helped her master color theory and how to enhance one color without affecting other colors. Flores created the three digital photographs by mixing watercolor and water suspended on oil and backlit.
When the viewer walks into the well-lit gallery, Flores’s artist statement is to the right with two of her digital photography artworks: Creation of Adam and Volneniye. Creation of Adam displays a complementary color scheme, red and green. During her process, she chooses three colors and lets them intermingle to create more colors. Her piece was based off of Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. In the artwork, Adam and God are reaching for each other. Flores used this piece to inspire the color scheme and theme of her digital photograph. She aimed for the gold, blue, and orange circles to look like a galaxy, space, or the universe. The choice of gold yellow relates directly back to the gold tint around the God in Michelangelo’s artwork. The repetition and movement of circles makes the digital photography look like metal is boiling. The bright light of yellow in the bottom left of the artwork looks like God’s light is shining through the galaxy. The circles could represent planets, moons, or meteorites. Ultimately, Flores wanted this piece to trigger ideas of space and creation.
After the viewer passes Creation of Adam, Volneniye is to the left of it. Flores confirms Volneniye is Russian for “excitement.” The color scheme within the artwork invokes feelings of excitement through the cool blue displayed. The blue mixed with the red creates a calm and warm purple that strengthens the piece. The red circle on the right of the piece balances out the mass sea of blue meant to make the viewer feel as if they are under water… drowning. Her ability to reinvent the feeling of her drowning by using innumerable circles to look as if the water has bubbles is uncanny.
Granmamare is placed towards the back of the gallery. It is meant to exhibit abstract visual textures. Additionally, it is based off of a fictional character in the movie “Ponyo on the Cliff.” Granmamare is the Queen of the ocean. Hence Flores’s choice of blue and green, colors of the ocean. The analogous color scheme represents her drowning experience. Flores mentioned how this piece can make someone feel as if they are looking from underneath a dirty film in a lake as they are drowning. Nonetheless, the highlight of sky blue shows that the subject is not too far under to the point where they cannot reach for help to the sky.
“Oneirodynia means comfort,” Flores exclaimed. The soft, pink, furry fibers in the teapot and cups and copper metal were intentional to invoke a feeling of comfort and professionalism. The umber brown patina was made by putting liver of sulfur on the copper. She hopes the tactile textures allow the viewer to interact with this sculptural piece more than her other three artworks. This piece is a form of wearable or sculptural art. In her artist statement, Flores explains, “As a young child I had a teddy bear whose fur was soft and scruffy; similar surfaces invoke a sense of comfort in me.” She elaborated that she wants this piece to make the viewer feel warm and comfortable, like a child. However, this is disrupted once the tea set is placed on a tray to remind the viewer this is a professional/formal. Pink was chosen because it is a soft, baby comforting color. Flores decided for this piece to be lower than eye level to force the viewer to bend down and evaluate the piece.
In conclusion, Flores accomplishes tactile and visual textures through her four artworks displayed in the gallery. She accomplished things she mentioned she wanted to in her artist statement. All of these pieces forced the viewer to dive into the realm of imagination and leave with the vision of creation and/or creativity.
Mirakal Jackson wrote this review. Jackson is a Senior Bachelor of Arts major at Valdosta State University. She has a minor in Entrepreneurship and Aerospace Studies. She will be graduating with all 3 of her degrees in May 2020. She hopes to become an art therapist, art teacher, or a freelance artist with her own business.