34. Cristina Molina

In honor of our MasterMind genius awards, Cultist proudly presents "100 Creatives," where we feature Miami's cultural superheroes in random order. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email [email protected] with the whos and whys.34. Cristina MolinaWe all know who Sigmund Freud is, right? Well, take about one-part Freud, add it to...

By Ily Goyanes

January 17, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "19274298",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17482312",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482310",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18711090",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17482313",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

In honor of our MasterMind genius awards, Cultist proudly presents "100 Creatives," where we feature Miami's cultural superheroes in random order. Have suggestions for future profiles? Email [email protected] with the whos and whys.

34. Cristina Molina
We all know who Sigmund Freud is, right? Well, take about one-part Freud, add it to one-part Basel darling, then add a dash of Warholesque pop-culture-sensibility, and you may be close to understanding video/sculpture/installation artist Cristina Molina.

At Florida International University, Molina indulged her two main areas

of interest: art and psychology. And after earning two bachelor's

degrees, she wields those skills to dissect human nature and expose it

through her work. "Much of my work stems from analyzing human motivation

and its relationship to desire. I learned to think scientifically about

this through methods used in psychology, but art allows me to explore

other arenas of motivation."

Although she is temporarily a Gainesville resident while finishing

her master's in digital media art at the University of Florida,

Cristina is definitely 3-0-5 fo' life. "I still try to have as much as a presence in Miami as I can, both exhibiting and attending shows, and

of course engaging in all of the Art Basel festivities."

Molina's work has been exhibited in local and

international venues; including the Frost Art Museum where she earned

"Best in Show;" the Gallery at the University of Genoa in Genoa, Italy;

and the MoCA film festival competition, Optic Nerve XI, where her videos

were voted "Audience Favorite."

1. List five things that inspire you.

-Galician ladies

-Elaborate meals

-Francis bacon paintings

-Over-embellished trinkets

-Verbs

2. What was your last big project?

I just had my first solo exhibition "Helium Hum" at Nina Torres Fine Art Gallery in Wynwood. The show is comprised of a series of video works that focus on the mouth as a portal through which exchanges of desire and excess are mediated. The exhibition will continue until January 29.

3. What's your next big project?

Since I am currently interested in consumption in the literal sense of edibles or non-edibles passing through the mouth, I am brainstorming on how to include more food in my next project. I have previously experimented with this idea in a piece called "The iScream Machine." For that work, participants were invited to scream into a jeweled victrola-like horn that was attached to an interactive ice cream cart. An LED scream-o-meter detected the amplitude of the screams and the louder the participant's scream, the better the ice cream they would receive. The ice cream pops were modeled after different mobile devices.

4. Why do you do what you do?

Art making feels like the most intuitive way of observing and responding to my surroundings.

5. What's something you want Miami to know about you?

That even though I try to escape it, I am its citizen for life.

What's something you don't want Miami to know about you?

I'll keep that one a secret, so that Miami never finds out!

The Creatives so far:

35. David Josef Tamargo
36. Jillian Mayer
37. Alfonso Vega
38. Natasha Lopez de Victoria
39. Aholsniffsglu e

40. Heather Malone y
41. Jorge Rubiera
42. Elaine Lancaster
43. Nick Duckart
44. Danielle Estefan
45. John Dufresne
46. Monica Lopez de Victoria
47. Bill Bilowit
48. Alette Simmons-Jimenez
49. Tawnie Silva
50. Ginger Bardot
51. Jonathan David Kane
52. Naomi Fisher
53. Rocky Grimes
54. Teresa Barcelo
55. Paul Tei
56. Lee Materazzi

57. Karla Garcia
58. Anna Mixon
59. Octavio Campos
60. P. Scott Cunningham
61. Elena Garcia
62. Summer Hill
63. Autumn Casey
64. Juan Navarro
65. Serge Toussaint
66. David Rohn
67. Diane Brache
68. Spencer Morin
69. James Anthony
70. Jim Drain
71. Claudia Calle
72. Kevin Arrow
73. Andrew Hevia
74. Ana Mendez
75. Michael McKeever
76. Diana Lozano
77. Ricardo Pau-Llosa
78. Agustina Woodgate
79. Tarell Alvin McCraney
80. Jennifer Kronenberg
81. Farley Aguilar
82. Colin Foord
83. Karelle Levy
84. Matt Gajewski
85. Antonia Wright
86. Allen Charles Klein
87. Christy Gast
88. Gustavo Matamoros
89. Shareen Rubiera-Sarwar
90. Kyle Trowbridge
91. Clifton Childree
92. Jessica Gross
93. Danny Brito
94. Nektar de Stagni
95. Anthony Spinello
96. Vanessa Garcia
97. Justin Long
98. Rosie Herrera
99. Rick Falcon
100. Ingrid B

Follow Cultist on Facebook and Twitter @CultistMiami.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Miami New Times has been defined as the free, independent voice of Miami — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.