On paper, nothing destined Flora to discover and become passionate about Art. Not her social background, nor her surroundings, nor even her village, which had no museum, and was surrounded by mountains and forests. Yet, this little deaf girl from the Ardennes, daughter of Italian immigrant, became so interested by the Arts that those green landscapes remain deeply present in her creations.

 

After difficult studies, she finally entered the Fine Arts School of Saint-Quentin at the age of 20. However, the summer before the school year, her father let her know that it will be impossible to attend. There was not enough money. 

 

Thus begins a series of small jobs. During 15 years, that will mean her art is part of her private life only. Having left her home for Paris at 22, she then discovered her first museum. The Musée d’Orsay was her first and the Impressionists profoundly moved her forever. Next, it was Camille Claudel's Clotho turn to make an imprint on Flora’s mind, only reinforced by the film on Camille Claudel’s life released in 1988 and featuring Adjani.

 

During all this time, Flora's passion is often put on hold, interspersed with periods of sculpting, drawing, and then painting since 2011. All of those were always a catharsis of ordinary life and a path to yourself.

 

Once her daughter became independent, she decided to put an end to her day-job.

 

Perhaps to make up for lost time, more than 35 years after leaving school, she started with a taking courses at the École Boulle, followed by training in textile and surface design at ENS AAMA, where she was certified in 2021, two prestigious art schools in Paris.

 

In her pursuit for painting, she first copies the great artists to acquire a legitimacy that allows her to unleash her creativity without any injunctions or technical limits. Today, she continues her learning, liberated, with an authenticity that answers only to her pleasure and instinct. Nothing tells her story better than her works.

 

Cali Andro Flora, self-taught visual artist, invites you to discover her work. They are open windows into her inner space, where she comes from, who she is, and what she is becoming.

 

Her journey, although longer than the norm, has allowed her to grow, to experiment, and to become who she is today, holding onto all parts of herself, both shadow and light.

 

To reveal one's genius, one must accept their difference and, above all, their own part of madness. 

 

Cali Andro Flora is proof that one can always defy the odds.