José Flores

American flags are my artistic medium— I burn them, and I draw with the black smoke they produce. I tear the flags apart and reconstruct them into events where the main characters are red-skinned figures. Sometimes, I include white figures in the pieces, but I make them out of cutouts— a combination of the negative space of the flag and the exposed white wall. Influenced by Kerry James Marshall, I also restrained myself from painting and depicting white bodies.