Two invisible collaborators have contributed to printmaker and guest artist Gene Flores’ current body of work, and their medium is music, not visual art. “In these works,” Flores explains, “Tom Waits and Neko Case have been in constant rotation in my studio, and, as I work, their words have woven themselves into my world.” The images, Flores says, are not intended to be illustrations of the lyrics, but rather, their companions.

 

Flores holds two master's degrees in printmaking from the University of Iowa, and his mastery of the medium is evident in his complex and detailed imagery. Whether working on copper, linoleum or wood matrices, Flores’ process eschews preliminary drawings and, instead, relies on improvisation, allowing the images and ideas to grow as he listens and works.

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Flores hails from El Paso, Texas. He exhibits nationally and internationally and his work is in the collections of the University of Iowa, the El Paso Museum of Art, the University of Texas, El Paso, Sonoma State University and Universidad de Costa Rica.