Gabriel Warren and Ana Flores were artists in high school.
“We were both transfers to RISD [Rhode Island School of Design],” Gabriel continued. “When I came to RISD, Ana was a floor counselor.”
Now married and settled in Rhode Island, the couple continues to compose art from an environmental perspective and are scheduled to feature their work together at the Mystic Art Center in this month. The exhibition, Notes from the Earth, will have its opening reception on Jan. 16 in the Liebig Gallery.
Director of External Relations Brandy Kolmer said the process for selecting special exhibiting artists such as Flores and Warren begins about a year in advance.
“A member of our exhibition committee suggested the artists’ work and Executive Director Karen Barthelson then researched it,” said Kolmer. “Special invitational shows like this one are another way the Mystic Arts Center supports local artists by exposing them to the inspiring work of high-caliber professional artists from around our region.”
On the couple’s Web site, www.art-farm.net, Flores is described as a sculptor, environmentalist, community arts advocate, and as a past artist in residence in school universities and public institutions. As her work is shown internationally, she co-directs Manos, an arts group working to enhance and humanize institutional spaces, and is co- founder of the Arts and Healing Program at RISD.
MAC’s Web site states that Flores has recently won a coveted TogetherGreen fellowship, which supports her work as an artist working with environmental issues and community.
Flores said she began as a painter, majoring in painting at RISD, but then evolved into sculpturing.
“I periodically go back and forth,” she explained, describing art as having no boundaries.
Warren, majoring in sculpture, said he had always been a sculptor but prides himself with his photography. Warren has traveled to New Zealand five times, Central America three times, Scotland twice, and to many other diverse landscapes of the world such as the Sahara Desert, Alaska, and Antarctica.
“Visitors will notice the glacial inspiration of Gabriel’s metal-work featuring illuminated and brightly tinted blue or green glass,” MAC’s Web site claimed. “The work began after Gabriel made several trips to Antarctica, where he observed the fascinating patterns made by nearly frozen seawater molded by wind and current.”
Gabe said his art illuminates the power of landscapes, showing the insignificance of humanity.
“I think art is about communication,” he explained, adding that each of his pieces that will be on display at MAC will have a small statement, giving onlookers a hint of his expression.
When asked to define an environmental artist, Warren explained that each environmental artist composes something different from a different perspective of the world. Flores described it as telling the earth’s history.
“It’s extremely important,” she continued, adding that she and many other prominent environmental artists can be simply inspired by their surroundings. “It’s like the planet is calling for you to speak for it.”
“Gabe and Ana each draw from a similar environmental aspect, but their aesthetics, execution, and approach are very different and quite compelling,” Barthelson said.
Flores said at MAC, selections of her art composed throughout the past decade will be displayed in a section of the exhibition she named Gaia’s Garden. Gaia is a variant of Gaea and is a Greek mythology term to represent the goddess of the earth and mother of Cronus and the Titans. Flores said each piece takes her to another place she’s been or a memory she’s had in the last decade.
Warren said he hopes his work will reinforce reference to the natural world and give visitors coming to view the exhibit a sense of trying to live with as light a footprint as possible.
“It’s not about me, it’s not about the work even…It’s about the planet,” he continued.
Flores hopes people grasp an understanding that everyone is not separate from nature but instead, is a part of it.
“That’s why we need to reawaken that wild part of ourselves,” Flores explained. “It’s not that tree or that bird or that elephant out there that needs saving. We’re all part of this biological creation and unfortunately we as a species have endangered it too much. For me, it’s coming back to the oneness between man and nature and that we are nature rather than separate from [it].”
By Kristal Spence
Special to the Times
The opening reception for Notes from the Earth and the Member Show will begin on Jan. 16 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Artist discussions will be held for Gabriel Warren on Sunday, Jan. 25 at 1:30 p.m. and for Ana Flores on Feb. 8 at 1:30 p.m
Other Upcoming events
The week of Jan. 12 - Winter classes for children and adults begin
Jan. 17 – Family Workshop – Critter Cabins & Fairy Houses. 9:30 a.m. - noon
Jan. 18 – Winter Artists film series begins with “Rape of Europa,” held at the Olde Mistic Village Art Cinemas
For more information, visit www.mysticarts.org or call the Mystic Art Center, 9 Water St., 860-536-7601