Cooper Mountain artist earns place in Smithsonian

By Christina Lent

The Beaverton Valley Times, Nov 29, 2007, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Artist Elayna Flodin was honored at a reception on Capitol Hill with an Award of Excellence for her “Nuclear Dark” digital collage that will be on display in the Smithsonian’s S. Dillon Ripley Center through Dec. 31.

Submitted photo / The Times

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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.

“The exhibition illustrates the motivational force that moves the artists to create,” said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA Arts. “It’s energetic.

“What really strikes me is that the exhibition captures the voices of these young artists and what drives them to create. The pieces were selected based on their merit and the quality of the artwork.”

Flodin’s digital collage “Nuclear Dark” earned an Award of Excellence from a distinguished jury, including William A. Newman, an artist and professor at the Corcoran Gallery of Art; John Perreault, art critic for Artopia; and Lisa Wainwright, dean of graduate studies at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

As a featured artist, another of Flodin’s pieces was showcased in a second exhibition at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

“I have a hard time with recognition, but it is all slowly sinking in,” Flodin admitted. “When I met the curator of the section where my piece is displayed, I realized this was huge.

“It was pretty amazing to visit the Smithsonian for the first time and see my artwork on the wall.”

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.

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