Meet Monica

Flow’s Artist Residency program is a creative residency at Flow Brickell supporting artists creating work that brings people together through space, story, and shared experience.

Painting the spirit of family, roots, and home

Everyone has their own story. But the power of art allows us to connect to someone else’s story by finding ways to relate it to our own. And that’s what Flow Artist in Residence Monica Olivo is doing with a paint brush and canvas. Showcasing her Indigenous roots, she expresses the feeling of home through her brush strokes, emphasizing it’s not really about the outcome, but about the feeling of creative release and the connection others can find in something you pour your heart into. We were able to catch up with Monica over a blank canvas to talk about how family, connection to nature, and the feeling of home are translated into her artwork. Take it away, Monica. 

Where can we find your work?

Monica Olivo: My Instagram is @monica.caona, and my website is www.caonastudios.com If you had to choose one, what would be your medium of choice?

MO: My medium of choice would be painting. 

Explain “Diasporic Oceans” to us?

MO: “Diasporic Oceans” explores ancestral and cultural veneration through layered stories and themes. It explores the search for freedom and what it demands of us, moving through dualities such as land and water, and the physical and spiritual. It is the story of those who travel to new worlds and lands with the weight and gift of their ancestors, honoring that and never wanting to forget where they came from. Through all of it runs a deep wish for connectedness.

Favorite record to put on while you work?

MO: My favorite record to put on while I work is "Orange Moon” by Erykah Badu. 

How does art have the power to unite people?

MO: When someone creates something from the deepest part of who they are, they are reaching across every divide that exists. Through that, it reminds us of how we are all one and energetically connected. There is something profoundly spiritual about that moment of recognition. It awakens something collective and sacred in us. Art is an archival remembrance of life, history, and community. 

Feature image by PRARRII