Flor (b. 1993) is a farmer, performer & artist of Andean & European descent who works with intuitive movement, dirt, installation, printmaking, fiber, and food. From a young age, Heather Flor frequently traveled to Peru to visit her maternal family. There, her passion for movement, food and textiles was ignited. She lives, works, and stewards land in Maine, which is settled on stolen and occupied territory of the Wabanaki Confederacy. When they aren’t creating, Flor is fighting for food and land sovereignty, saving seeds, and playing with their niblings.
Through performance and making with available materials, Flor locates the present moment and the relationship between her two cultures. She explores the defeat and transformation of trauma through the twin powers of vulnerability and forgiveness, and how exposing pain can transcend trauma. Heather Flor is the recipient of awards and residencies such as the Kindling Fund via Space Gallery / Andy Warhol Foundation, David C. Driskell Black Seed Studio Fellowship, Speedwell Projects Residency, Studios at MASS MoCA Fellowship, and The Lunder Institute for American Art Residential Fellowship.
Statement
My practice is rooted deeply in healing from generational trauma, making something pleasurable from the crumbs and seeing beauty in the flower that grows from the cracks. I use food, textiles, found objects and dirt to connect with ideas of home, the domestic sphere, family and community, and the invisible labor of women of color. The objects and performances I make are hybridizations of traditional craft and what it is to relate to our bodies. I use what is found in the pantry to share moments of vulnerability and give voice to identities often overlooked or silenced, this practice is a meditation of my experiences. By exposing pain, I am reminded I am alive and the gift it is to be alive. I want to celebrate life and plant seeds for futures where Black and Indigenous people are centered .