Rio de Seda/River of Silk

Images: 

Carolina Flores with hand-painted silk river

RIVER OF SILK/RIO DE SEDA

An installation by CAROLINA G. FLORES

Opening Reception: Friday, July 10, 5:30-8:30 pm

Gallery Talk: Saturday, August 1, 2 pm

Lecture by Dr. Brian Davies, Saturday, August 8, 2 pm

                            @ Bihl Haus Arts, 2803 Fredericksburg Rd.

Cascades of hand-dyed silk—yards and yards and yards of it—tumble 20-feet from the ceiling rafters.  They pool and comingle on the floor, creating “River of Silk/Rio de Seda,” a new installation by Carolina G. Flores.  The exhibit opens with a reception at Bihl Haus Arts on July 10, from 5:30-8:30 pm.  The evening will also feature a special musical performance by Carolina on the flute with Christina Nine, and vocals by Ramiro Maldonado.

Inspired by the Alhambra (the artist feels its history in her blood), Flores creates a cool, inviting space— a haven from July’s oppressive heat—evocative of Islamic gardens.  Giant flowers familiar to these gardens—poppies, common callas, geraniums, roses, ranunculi, orange blossoms—bloom in oversized paintings on the gallery’s rectangular walls.  These floral splashes of bright yellows, magentas, and oranges symbolize day.  They contrast with the night blues of the water element, a key component of Islamic gardens--love of the sight and sound of water is at their core.  Flores’s hand-built Majolica-glazed terracotta fountains bubble from the floor or hang from the walls.  They emit sounds that elicit feelings of peace, harmony, and happiness.  The centerpiece of the installation is the ‘river’ of hand-dyed velvet silk hand-dyed in deep blues and purples and swaths of organza hand-painted in patterns drawn from Islamic tiles and informed by elegant undulant Arabic script. These 20-foot cataracts that spill to the floor respond to the slightest movement of the visitor, creating a truly interactive intimate space, a private mysterious garden sheltered from the outside world.

Carolina G. Flores, known for her work in oils, water color, and silk that is all about color, emotion, and gesture, has been engaged with the “River of Silk” concept over the past several years.  Her early work dealt with fantasy landscapes and family portraits.  In 1988, she began to focus on the highway, a single line leading to and from the past and present, a road that both divides and connects the landscape.  Her landscapes, family portraits, and highways, as well as this new installation, form a large body of work about ‘a sense of place.’  Flores will discuss this work in a show-and-tell gallery talk at Bihl Haus Arts on Saturday, August 1, at 2 pm.

The artist received a BFA from the University of Texas at Austin in 1971, and an MFA from the University of Texas at San Antonio in 1978.  She maintains a studio at the Blue Star Art Complex and exhibits professionally throughout the Southwest.  Her work in silk is documented in the Latino Design Archive of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper Hewitt Design Museum.  She has been an artist-in-residence in numerous art programs in San Antonio and across Texas. For more on the artist, go to www.carolinagflores.com

In conjunction with this exhibit, Dr. Brian Davies, UTSA Dept. of History, will present a lecture on The Alhambra and Islamic Spain on August 8, at 2 pm. 

Bihl Haus Arts (www.bihlhausarts.org) is a not-for-profit contemporary art gallery located at 2803 Fredericksburg Rd., on the premises of Primrose at Monticello Park Senior Apartments, an affordable housing community.  The gallery, open Fridays and Saturdays, 1-4 pm, is made possible with the generous support of The Potashnik Family Foundation and Primrose.  This program is funded in part by the San Antonio Office of Cultural Affairs.  For more information, (210) 383-9723, or info@bihlhausarts.org