Artist Spotlight on Flora Saldivar
Memory rarely arrives in perfect focus. It lingers in fragments— through color, texture, sensation, and the spaces between what is remembered and what is imagined. For artist Flora Saldivar, painting becomes a way of navigating that terrain. Born in Mexico City and shaped by a life lived between cultures, Saldivar creates atmospheric abstractions that invite viewers to complete the narrative themselves. In Field Notes on Memory, her paintings unfold alongside Lauren Elder’s sculptural works, exploring how memory can exist simultaneously as image and object, feeling and form. In the conversation below, Saldivar reflects on belonging, materiality, and the endless process of discovery that fuels her practice.
On Early Influences and Finding Art
MIXD: Your work often feels rooted in memory and emotion. Looking back, can you remember one of your earliest experiences with making art?
FLORA SALDIVAR: Growing up, my parents kept a very tidy home. Everything had its place, and painting supplies were tucked away in a closet. I have this vivid memory of staring at the rack of paints, wondering how I could ever reach them. Looking back, it’s one of my earliest memories of wanting to make something.
On Personal Art Influences
M: How has your personal history shaped the way you approach your work today?
FS: Having been born in Mexico City and then moving to the United States for college, I’ve often felt like I exist between two places. I’ve never completely felt like I’m from there or from here. Eventually, I realized I could choose to see that not as a limitation, but as an expansion of who I am. Living between cultures has become one of my greatest strengths.
On Viewer Interpretation
M: Your paintings leave room for interpretation. What do you hope viewers bring to the work?
FS: I love when viewers bring their own stories to the work. Hearing what someone sees—what memories or emotions a painting unlocks for them—is one of the most rewarding parts of being an artist.
On Creative Process
M: Can you walk us through your process?
FS: Everything begins with a sketch. From there, I mix my own paints in small batches, experimenting over and over until I find exactly the right combination. Then I stretch the canvas and begin the painting itself.
I’m deeply inspired by Helen Frankenthaler and her approach to staining canvas with oil paint. We now know those materials can eventually deteriorate the canvas, so I wanted to develop a process that honors that tradition while creating work that will endure for generations.
Painting is a lot like cooking to me. You don’t need countless ingredients—you just need exceptional ones. The quality of the canvas, the pigments, even the binder I use to make my paints—every material matters. When you begin with the best ingredients, the finished work carries that integrity.
FLORA SALDIVAR
For me, painting is a never-ending process of discovery.
On the Melding of Two Practices
M: In the exhibition Field Notes on Memory, your paintings are presented alongside Lauren Elder’s sculptural work. How do you see the two practices speaking to one another?
FS: I see my paintings representing memories of the past—like a photograph or a dream that you can’t quite hold onto. They’re fleeting, atmospheric, and two-dimensional. Lauren’s sculptural work introduces another physical presence into that conversation, and I’m excited to see how they interact within the same space.
On Painting
M: What continues to draw you back to painting?
FS: For me, painting is a never-ending process of discovery. Every canvas teaches me something new, and that’s what keeps me coming back. It feels like a practice without an endpoint.
Article Credits
Artist Portrait by Jarah Hill
Videography & Studio Visit Imagery by Hone Creative Studio