Your path: Elayna Flodin Recognized
Elayna Flodin Recognized in Smithsonian Exhibition
Excerpt from an article by Christina Lent in the Beaverton Valley Times, November 29, 2007.
Cooper Mountain artist earns Award of Excellence
Elayna Flodin's artwork is taking her places.
The 24-year-old Cooper Mountain woman was recently awarded $2,000 and a coveted spot in Driven, a new exhibition of 15 emerging artists with disabilities showcased in the Smithsonian's S. Dillon Ripley Center in Washington, D.C.
Flodin's Nuclear Dark piece provides a glimpse of how the creation of art brought a sense of healing and acceptance of her disabled body.
Flodin was born with pseudoarthrosis of the tibia, which she described as a bone disease that horribly bowed her tibia, making it want to collapse and leading to spontaneous fractures.
In Nuclear Dark, a photo of one of her many sets of x-rays shows pieces of her fragile bones in the background of a colorful collage layered with natural images of beauty from different pieces of her artwork.
"The piece is my way of unveiling my disability," she said. "My goal in uncovering a big part of myself that is hidden beneath layers of skin and muscle is to show that it is OK to have these things that are different.
"The intent of my digital work is to bring attention to hidden layers of life, asking viewers to continue to look deeper, into both my work and into their own lives."
Flodin, who graduated from Marylhurst University in June 2007 with an interdisciplinary studies degree in art, business and human science, is founder of the Rise Above art program with Hillsboro Community Arts.