Sherman, Texas -- The Austin College Art Department will be hosting Savy Flores’s ’20 Ecotheoretical art exhibit. The exhibit will be on display in the Betsy Dennis Forster Art Complex, Dennis Gallery through December 11, and will be open for public viewing Monday – Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or by appointment.
The sculptures and sketches included in this collection are the culmination of years of work, originating from various points of personal interest and study. Though the vast majority were completed within the last two years, many were conceived of or began much earlier, during Flores’s studies at Austin College.
“I like to study the fascinations of the real world while also looking beyond what’s real and imagining what could be,” said Flores. “I feel the most pride in my work when I can successfully challenge myself to create works that evoke some sort of emotion and spark curiosity to learn more about the subject matter. I would like to challenge viewers as well to look at these pieces and imagine how my creations could fit into our world in a hypothetical sense, envisioning and making sense of this reality, bringing the work to life in their time on display.”
In considering a fitting term for the experience Flores wanted to encourage in the display and viewing of this body of work, so she searched for something akin to “speculative biology,” while fitting larger within the grand scheme of ecology. “When I found the term ‘ecotheory,’ I learned that this concept closer describes the human relation to environments around them, rather than speculative relationships within ecology, but the term stuck with me,” she said. “In my work, although I explore plenty of nonhuman literal and fictional subjects, I constantly come back to the inclusion of human characteristics, both physical and conceptual. I liked the idea of a term that includes the importance of the human experience and influence with that of environments as a whole. After all, we are just one part of the world, as everything around us is.”
Austin College, a private national liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas, has earned a reputation for excellence in academic preparation, pre-professional foundations, committed faculty, and hands-on, adventurous learning opportunities. One of 45 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book Colleges That Change Lives, Austin College boasts a welcoming community that embraces diversity and individuality, with more than 50 percent of students identifying as persons of color. The residential student body of approximately 1,300 students and an expert faculty of more than 100 educators allow an 11:1 student-faculty ratio and personalized attention. Related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA), Austin College cultivates an inclusive atmosphere that supports students’ faith journeys regardless of religious tradition. The College, founded in 1849, is the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter.
