Working mainly with traditional pen and ink on paper, Flores generates masterful figurative works, elaborately layered, that incorporate grotesque imagery with the beauty of sinuous lines. His
drawings depict figures, both real and imagined, that tell the story of an unending battle between
society's powerless and powerful. With a dark sense of humor that is Flores' own, his work also shows
the influence of generations of artists, integrating the grace and detail of early masters with the
imagination of the Surrealists.
Though the content of his drawings often display a clear narrative, it is rare that Flores begins
a piece with a plan for its full resolution. He may have a theme in mind at the start, but prefers to
allow each drawing to develop itself, each figure or symbol deriving form and meaning from the one
before it, until a narrative has found its way onto the page. Flores is driven extensively by his
surroundings. He is clear in voicing the use of his art as an outlet through which to comment on the
condition of the world around him, and believes it is his duty to do so. Flores comments, "I, like
Orozco, Goya or Kollwitz believe in the need to directly portray that which is inhuman and immoral
in society as well as that which is compassionate and true in order to wake in all of us a sense or
urgency at attending humanities' most pressing needs in a time when greed and rapacious hatred
becomes ever more predominant."
Born into an era of Civil War in El Salvador, it is from a young age that Flores has been exposed
to the volatile relations between the public and "unchecked powers." Because of his background, it
is with special interest in Latin American history that Flores began using his drawings as a tool with
which to communicate his ideas.
Oscar de Las Flores was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador, in 1975. He relocated twice with his family;
to Guadalajara, Mexico, and Toronto,Canada. The artist currently divides his time between Oaxaca
and Mexico City. He received his degree, with honors, from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1997 and has shown extensively in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
|
Wagneriana, El Tren de la Muerte |
etching |
13 x 19.5 in.
|
|
|
Untitled |
etching |
15 x 19 in. |
|
