ABOUT

Hazel Florez is a polyphonic, rhizomatic changeling, who floats through the astral realm sometimes transmogrifying into a mermaid whose tail is entirely made out of savoy cabbage leaves. In an age of fast paced digital consumption, Florez’s paintings are made with the intention of drawing the viewer into a slower and meditative state of mind, where prolonged viewing is rewarded with intricate detail. Her paintings act like portals inviting the viewer to enter mythopoetic Otherworlds. Her work explores metamorphosis from both human and biocentric perspectives. Filled with esoteric symbolism, Hazel’s work is not without humour, as she enjoys mixing reverence with playful irreverence. Other themes in her work include: Jungian archetypal psychology, sleep, dreams, trauma, healing, spiritual ecology, and the history of power. She is a Bridgeman Images Studio artist.

 “I am an artist communicating in the visual language of ‘dreamish’. I relate to an ancient atavistic world view, which connects to the poetic thinking found in symbolism, mythology, magick, mysticism and storytelling. I believe that symbols are what unite us at our primal intuitive roots, they are the first language of visual communication, they unite all people from every background." ~ HF, 2022.

AMY HALE REVIEW

“Hazel Florez’ work lives in the world of dream and symbol, element and myth, transporting the viewer into a wild alchemical garden of wondrous creatures and magical objects, transforming into signposts of our cosmic journeys. Hers is an animated dimension filled with lively and fantastic beings, deities, and delightful, big eyed hybrid spirits of plants, moths and unfamiliar spectres.  Florez’ broadly Hermetic framework links the microcosm to the macrocosm, so that each visual element is a portal to something much bigger, hinting at the ways in which our personal lessons and journeys resonate with the universal current.

 Inspired primarily by Surrealism and painting with a visionary sensibility, Florez recalls the playful otherworldly spaces and entities of Remedios Varo and Leonora Carrington. Yet she also deftly employs the traditional visual language of didactic esoteric art, working with the iconography of alchemy, sacred geometry, tarot, and myth, resulting in a unique pictorial fusion that is both profound and whimsical. Florez’ command of esoteric symbolism suggests that each individual component is charged with meaning, yet the viewer is still invited to find their way through the garden to their own revelation. Hazel Florez lures you into her enchantment, and it is impossible not to surrender.”

Dr Amy Hale, 2022.

Dr. Amy Hale is an Atlanta based writer, curator and critic. She has a PhD in Folklore and Mythology from UCLA and has published academic and popular articles on a wide range of topics such as Paganism and the New Right, women’s esoteric art, Cornish cultural nationalism, Arthuriana, color theory, and occult performance art. She has written widely on artist and occultist Ithell Colquhoun, notably the biography Ithell Colquhoun: Genius of the Fern Loved Gully (Strange Attractor 2020) and is currently editing a selection of Colquhoun’s esoteric essays. She is also the editor of Essays on Women in Western Esotericism: Beyond Seeresses and Sea Priestesses (Palgrave 2022). She has contributed gallery texts and essays for a number of institutions including Tate, Camden Arts Centre, Art UK, Arusha Galleries, Heavenly Records and Spike Island, Bristol.