I Brought You Flowers/Te Traje Flores is a site that considers the cultural resonance of gifting flowers as acts of nurturing within BIPOC communities.

Inspired by Nahua and Mayan codices and contemporary writing that breaks down their logographic terms. Flowers symbolize places and names, the exhibition explores the profound connection between botany, our ancestral heritage, and the act of giving. Central to the exhibit are ceramic pieces cradling flowers, each representing a spectrum of recipients: flowers to ourselves, xochitl to our ancestor, flores to the earth weaving a rich tapestry of interconnectedness and reconciliation.

Bio:

Marcela Torres is an artist, organizer, and educator that uses strength-building exercises and community rituals, to propose forms of reparations. Born in Salt Lake City, Utah and residing nomadically. Their physical research builds on methods of transcendental rituals, racial struggles within the United States and contemporary Latinx diaspora. Torres received a BA in Sculpture Intermedia and a BFA in Art History from the University of Utah, continuing their studies with a MFA in Performance from School of the Art Institute Chicago. Torres has performed at Performance Space New York, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, The Momentary, Fringe Festival and Time Based Arts. Torres has exhibited work at Hyde Park Art Center, UW-Parkside University and Petzel Gallery. Torres has been in residency at John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Franconia Sculpture Park, Recess, Links Hall and Creative Exchange PICA. They were a 2022 Chicago Dance Maker Forum Lab Artist, and a 2023 IACA Artist Fellowship Awardee for New Forms.