HHM Featured Artist: Anel I. Flores
October 8, 2020
Anel I. Flores
Artist Biography
Anel I. Flores is a lesbian, queer, woman story maker. Her work manifests itself as drawings, chapters, poems, and a continuation and evolution of the conversations started by the Xicana movement.
As a cultural producer, Anel is driven by a sense of urgency to record and create queer visual and literary work, aiming at discovering and recovering the history, dynamics, and complexities of relationships with others.
Anel’s areas of study include the production of literary fiction and visual art centered around Chicana/Latina literature, lesbianidad, sexuality, gender, race, spirituality and body. Her work was most recently exhibited at the McNay Art Museum, South Texas Museum of Popular Culture "TexPop" and Centro de Artes. She is currently in the process of completing her forthcoming book, Cortinas de Lluvia. She has dedicated 11 years to teaching in public high schools and colleges, along with 4 years in Arts Administration. Her accolades include:
- Women’s Advocate of the Year from the University of Texas at San Antonio
- Nebrija Creadores Award from the Universidad de Alcala de Henares in Madrid, Spain
- Best Of San Antonio - Local Author
- Chingona in Literature Award
- Ancinas Award at Squaw Valley
- National Association of Latino Arts and Cultures Fund for the Arts Award
- Accion Women Inspiring Women Award
- Yellow Rose of Texas Educator Award
- Mentorship Leadership Award from the National Performance Network
For information about Anel’s artwork, click here.
Artist Statement
While for all women, our sexuality, gender variance, gender exploration, and body love is viewed by many as residing in the margins, on the fringe and shamed, I work to produce truths of how the butch/queer/nonman/mujer- “me”- labors to learn, to wonder, to survive, to maneuver, to birth and to celebrate the body. With my work, I offer an access point for viewers to investigate how sensory, spirit, environment and memory are recalled in the body.
My story compels the aspects of my artistic practice, in which I question my own authenticity and prove that identity is not static, but enacted, forced, shaped, influenced, evolved and change. In my newest work, I return to my past life, when I didn’t have the tools to understand why opposition existed. Born into the delegitimizing forces of colonization, I aim to highlight the various trajectories I traveled, seeking “worth.” My work engages me, the subject and researcher, in transitional time travel beyond lifetimes, while also exploring how subjects embody their body, in the present moment.
-Anel I. Flores
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Celebrating Hispanic and Latino American Culture, Heritage and Contributions.