About the Artist

Maria Fernanda Sanchez Flores is a Mexican-American artist, born and raised in Oregon, and is currently living in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The medium she primarily works in is photography, but she also branches out to other mediums such as multimedia and mixed-media. When it comes to the artistic themes she works on, she based it on her personal life experiences and the events she wants to shine light to, to bring awareness to the viewers. 

“Photography has always been a way for me to express myself when my own words cannot. I transmit myself through the camera and see the art I can make. I explore all the variety of ways photography can be used within digital, analog, and more. I also enjoy using different mediums such as multimedia using video and sound elements and mixed-media such as paper, text, and objects, and sometimes incorporating it with photography when I can. I primarily make documentary photography and art based on my life experiences, my everyday journey, expressing my emotions, and speaking on issues that have impacted my community and myself such as latinos, students, and women. Whenever I can, I like to make more personal, in-depth projects to challenge myself as an artist to see what new things I can discover within myself. Through my art, I often make work that has two different goals; firstly, I hope the viewer can simply enjoy the art as it is and secondly, to captivate viewers to think deeper than the surface level of the art they have in front of them and to put themselves within the art to see how it impacts them.”

Sanchez Flores has exhibited her work at Pacific Northwest College of Art (Portland, OR), Blue Sky Gallery (Portland, OR), LightBox Photographic Gallery (Astoria, OR), Squirrel Haus Arts (Minneapolis, MN), and Minneapolis College of Art and Design (Minneapolis, MN). She has three associate degrees in Associate of Arts, Associate of Science, and Associate of General Studies from Portland Community College, Portland, OR. She is currently working towards a BFA in Photography with two minors in Curatorial Studies and Art History at Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis, MN.