Cristina Molina and The Crystal Efemmes
GHOST ORCHID: HOLOGRAMS
Live Performances:
Saturday, November 6, 2021 (7pm)
Saturday, November 6, 2021 (9pm)
Aurora Picture Show, $10 / Free for Aurora Members
Online Conversation:
A recording of our recent talk with artist Cristina Molina, held on Nov. 1 and co-presented by Aurora and Project Row Houses, is posted below.
An extension of New Orleans-based artist Cristina Molina’s Ghost Orchid project, she has collaborated with the Crystal Efemmes group to create this new multimedia performance in which dancers’ interpretive movements are based on the lifespan of Dendrophylax Lindenii, the rare, perennial “ghost orchid.” From seed to bloom, pollination, and its eventual death, Holograms includes movement, spoken word, projections of animated pollinators upon the dancers’ light-colored garments as they move. This will be presented in Aurora's indoor space, with limited capacity, masks required, and no food or drink allowed in the space. There will be an outdoor projection and receptions in the courtyard before and after each performance.
Cristina Molina is a visual artist who hails from the subtropics of Miami and currently lives and works in New Orleans—two precarious terrains that have thematically influenced her practice. Spanning performance, video installation, photography, and textile design, Molina’s artwork is set amongst vulnerable landscapes–both real and imagined. Using the language of magical realism, her artworks reshape and centralize little-known narratives to upend dominant histories. Molina’s projects have been supported by the National Association for Latino Arts and Culture, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Molina was one of 61 artists selected for the national exhibition State of the Art 2020 at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Previously, her work has been featured at the New Orleans Museum of Art, Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans, The Ogden Museum of Southern Art, The Polk Museum, New Orleans Film Festival, and Syros International Film Festival. In 2016, Art in America and Burnaway featured her exhibition Sad Tropics with Jonathan Traviesa as one of the top exhibitions of the year. From 2014-20 Molina was a member of the New Orleans artist-run project The Front, where she regularly curated artwork and co-organized The Front’s annual juried film festival. Cristina Molina is Associate Professor and Gallery Director at Southeastern Louisiana University where she received the 2018 President’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity, and is the current recipient of the Viola Brown Endowed Professorship in Visual Arts and Dramatic Arts.
The Crystal Efemmes is a quartet of interdisciplinary artists concerned with revisionist histories and feminist agendas. Comprised of visual artists Vanessa Centeno, Robyn LeRoy-Evans, Cristina Molina, and Ryn Wilson, The Crystal Efemmes alliance formed in 2014 after learning their individual artworks shared themes of intersectional feminism, mysticism, body politics, and concerns with the environment. As a collective they create immersive installations that concentrate on retelling myths and histories from a perspective that empowers and honors women. Together and as individuals, they have been awarded national and international residencies including the Joan Mitchell Foundation Residency, SALON Arts Council Residency, 'ACE residency Buenos Aires, and AIRIE Everglades. Their works have been exhibited at the New Orleans Museum of Art, The Contemporary Art Center New Orleans, Newcomb Museum, Syros International Film Festival, Kunsthall Stavanger in Norway, and Digital Interactive Artspace in Denmark.