ARTIST STATEMENT

My early work is concerned with the objectification of beauty and the growing anonymity of the elderly in our society. I believe a clear connection exists between the media-fueled manipulation, edification and standardization of physical beauty and the increasing denial of the actual process of physical aging. To be old today is to slowly become invisible. My work is, in many ways, a critique of this postmodern iconography as it attempts to highlight not only the natural process of aging but society’s concomitant refusal to recognize it as such. My pieces attempt to draw attention to the ways in which this self-absorption is encouraged by an unfettered individualism which unchallenged serves only to fracture family ties, friendships, and the larger social consciousness, creating an awkward integration when the individual no longer conforms to the established standards. I examine this growing need to connect by focusing on individual narratives. Whereas society has slowly created “fictions” and “virtual realities” to replace the real, I instead direct the spectator’s attention to the everyday real happenings of ordinary lives.

There’s an undeniably playful aspect to all of my work. The soft sculptural creatures I make are created as if they were belligerent, ill-behaved children, demanding attention. The use of fabric and the obsessiveness of embroidery defines my work and honors that centuries-old legacy of women weavers and artisans. The embroidery machine facilitates a delicate and yet frenetic pace. Every time I sew, I connect the tension of my foot on the pedal to the movement of my hands as I guide the fabric’s surface into what I want to draw.

Over the past few years, my work has become more political because of the hyper politicization of our environment today.

As an artist I think is extremely important that we become the commentators of our time, the narrators of front news and be vigilant to our time, wether is climate change or fake news. I would like to continue investigating the politics of this era, leaving a footprint a threaded connection to the current political climate around the world. I have become very engaged in the narratives of political satire and how I can illustrate this through the thread, making a reference to a women’s old tradition. I think is important and relevant given that fiber art is playing a new role in art history to use thread not as an embellishment but as a statement, a political consequence of woman not longer sitting in circles embroidering flowers.

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BIO

Aurora Molina was born in La Havana, Cuba, in 1984. She emigrated to the United States at the age of sixteen, where she opted to pursue an education in art. Molina received her Associates of Arts in Visual Arts from Miami Dade College, a Bachelors in Fine Arts specializing in Mixed Media from Florida International University and Master Degree in Contemporary Art at the Universidad Europea de Madrid completed in 2009. She currently resides in Miami, Florida, where she works as a full time artist, represented since 2011 by Bernice Steinbaum Gallery. Using the tools of embroidery, sculpture-making, drawing, photography, and video, she uses the potential of fiber art to communicate ideas about social and political issues. Her multifaceted platform provides a sustained and powerful critique of a society that “dismisses” the most vulnerable as they become invisible and hidden from everyday life. My early work is concerned with the objectification of beauty and the growing anonymity of the elderly in our society. I believe a clear connection exists between the media-fueled manipulation, edification and standardization of physical beauty and the increasing denial of the actual process of physical aging. To be old today is to slowly become invisible. My work is, in many ways, a critique of this postmodern iconography as it attempts to highlight not only the natural process of aging but society’s concomitant refusal to recognize it as such. My pieces attempt to draw attention to the ways in which this self-absorption is encouraged by an unfettered individualism which unchallenged serves only to fracture family ties, friendships, and the larger social consciousness, creating an awkward integration when the individual no longer conforms to the established standards. I examine this growing need to connect by focusing on individual narratives. Whereas society has slowly created “fictions” and “virtual realities” to replace the real, I instead direct the spectator’s attention to the everyday real happenings of ordinary lives. Using the tools of embroidery, sculpture-making, drawing, photography, and video, she uses the potential of fiber art to communicate ideas about social and political issues. Her multifaceted platform provides a sustained and powerful critique of a society that “dismisses” the most vulnerable as they become invisible and hidden from everyday life. ⁣With a commitment to Advanced Fiber Art in Miami, Molina is a co-founder of FAMA, Fiber Artists-Miami Association a newly artist collaborative that builds community through textiles and weaves Miami together. 

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ART EDUCATION

Equip students  with valuable life skills and encourage creative and critical thinking. Expose students to career paths in the arts, teaching them job skills and high-school and college readiness. Support students’ initiative to instill confidence and inspire them to stay in school, go on to college and expose them to career paths within the arts.