The subjects interviewed for Underground Rhode Island were selected, among many possibilities, for several reasons. The eldest were likely to have been part or the "hip" scene around jazz and the Celebrity Club of the 1950s. More than a few had a connection with AS220 and its circle, at some time in the past. And the youngest members have been active in the Rhode Island arts scene, in one way or another, during the last twenty years or so. Not all are either "lost" or "unknown"; some of them have long been prominent. And yet they represent a self-consciously offbeat take on the mainstream culture of Middle America. They are "underground" even when "overground," part of a world more recognizable to Allen Ginsberg (or Bruce Springsteen) than the people in the White House or Wall Street. And they were intriguing to the students who chose to interview them.
You may expect to find a photo--not necessarily from the recent past--a short biography, a recording of the subject's own voice, a verbatim transcript of the interview, and links to related materials. Not all these are present for each interview--some are still being gathered (or recovered)--but they definitely represent a sense of a life and creative work within that life.
Ana Flores was born in Havana, Cuba in 1956. Her family left Cuba for the United States in 1962 as a result of the Cuban Revolution. The daughter of a painter and an architect, Ana became interested in art at an early age. She explored painting and drawing until she entered the Rhode Island School of Design and graduated in 1979 with a major in painting. She then married her husband whom she had met at Rhode Island School of Design and they settled down in Charlestown, Rhode Island. There they had a hand in finishing their own house and studios, creating a home they refer to as Art Farm. Her work contains themes of nature as well as the female form. She cites her Cuban roots as one of her many influences.
© 2005