When Aurora Molina, then 9 years old, sat down in an embroidery class her mother had signed her up for as an extracurricular activity, she never imagined it would lead to where she is today.
Twenty-one years later, she is presenting her 17th art exhibit — this time in the Miami Dade Public Library.
Molina’s exhibit, Incoherent Stories, is a series of drawings on handmade cotton paper using thread, fabric and scraps. It will run from June 6 to Nov. 8, in the Main Library, located at 101 West Flagler St., free of charge and open to all ages.
“It is the right step for these pieces to be in a library. There is a sequence that happens in a library that wouldn’t happen elsewhere,” said Molina, 30. “People open a book to different pages and different stories. The stories don’t connect in a linear way. That’s what my pieces are — they are incoherent stories.”
The drawings are a collection of images and observations gathered by Molina on her travels, based on social media posts, rumors and news headlines gathered on trips. They aim to highlight the growing need for self-absorbed individuals to connect with the rest of the community.
“People don’t live their lives just to live it. They live their lives to show other people how they are living it,” said Molina.
When Molina was 8, her father, who is also an artist left Cuba on a trip to Ecuador. Eight years later, after seeking political asylum and filing for residency in the United States, their family was finally reunited.
Six years after that, Molina found herself attending a fiber art class at Florida International University that sparked the memory of the embroidery class she took as a child.
“I sat down at the sewing machine and immediately I knew that was going to be my medium,” Molina said. “Growing up in Cuba, you don’t have opportunities. You wonder if you will even get a scholarship to go to a university.”
Today, Molina holds an associate degree in visual arts from Miami Dade College, a bachelor’s in fine arts from FIU and a master’s degree in contemporary art from the European University of Madrid. She has also completed artist residencies in Mexico, Indonesia, Morocco, India, Thailand and Spain.
Incoherent Stories is an ongoing series of 80 pieces, of which 40 will be exhibited in the library.
The Miami Dade Public Library System has seven temporary galleries distributed among its 48 libraries and about 3,000 works of art in its permanent collection.
Oscar Fuentes, exhibition supervisor at the library, first came across Molina’s artwork two years ago and invited her to exhibit her work this summer.
“The library is full of people that come to localize themselves,” said Fuentes. “I think Incoherent Stories is going to inspire conversation. It is going to inspire people to tell their own stories.”
Molina hopes her exhibit will bring attention to the loss of creativity in society.
Incoherent Stories intends to leave a window for the audience to decide the conclusion.
“I speak through thread,” said Molina. “What others can do with a paintbrush, I can do with a sewing machine.”
Info Box/If you go:
What: Incoherent Stories
Where: Main Library at 101 W. Flagler St., Miami
When: Jun. 6 through Nov. 8, 2015
Hours: 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays
Contact: 305-375-2665
