A wide shot of a ceramics studio, featuring students working with pottery wheels and other tools.
Headshot of Salvador Jiminez, an adult person with a medium-fair skintone, holding a sculptural artwork.

Salvador Jiménez-Flores

Professor

Bio

Salvador Jiménez-Flores is an interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Jalisco, México. He explores the politics of identity and the state of double consciousness. Jiménez-Flores addresses issues of colonization, migration, “the other,” and futurism by producing a mixture of socially conscious installation, public, and studio-based art. His work spans from community-based work, drawing, ceramics, prints, and public sculpture.

Jimenez-Flores is a former member of The Color Network, an organization that promotes the advancement of people of color in the ceramic arts and assists artists develop, network, and create dialogue while maintaining a place for a database, resources, and mentorship. He is also a member of the Instituto Gráfico de Chicago, an organization inspired by the socio-political art of Mexico’s Taller de Gráfica Popular (The People’s Print Workshop) and uses art as a platform to inform and generate community discourse about urgent social issues.

Jiménez-Flores has presented his work at the National Museum of Mexican Art, Grand Rapids Art Museum, Urban Institute of Contemporary Art, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Grounds For Sculpture and Museum of Art and Design amongst others. He served as Artist-In-Residence for the city of Boston, Harvard Ceramics Program, Office of the Arts at Harvard University, and Kohler Arts Industry. Jiménez-Flores is a recipient of Joan Mitchell Foundation Painters & Sculptors Grants and he is a 2021 United States Artist Fellow. 

Educational Statement

As an educator I believe I have the responsibility to ensure that my students have the skills and the attitude to succeed in the very competitive contemporary art and craft field. I aim to implement as much professional practice within each of my classes so students feel comfortable doing research and crafting a visual and written proposal through their art projects. My experiences as an interdisciplinary artist provide me with the flexibility of working in a wide range of styles and media including drawing, sculpture, public art, video, installation and social practice to name a few. This diverse skill set helps me teach my classes more effectively and encourages interdisciplinarity in the classroom. My intention is to demonstrate the infinite possibilities in art. More importantly, awakening students’ curiosities and conflicts so they can learn how to develop their own content and ideas for their work.

Portfolio

Courses

Title Department Catalog Term

Description

Neon Light & Ceramics introduces students to hybrid practices that combine neon glasswork and ceramic structures in sculptural and installation contexts. Students will learn foundational neon techniques¿glass bending, gas/voltage properties, wiring, and installation styles¿alongside ceramic methods for creating supports, housings, and interactive elements. Weekly rotations between the Neon Lab and Ceramics studios provide students with equal immersion in both materials. The course emphasizes hands-on skill building, conceptual development, and experimental applications, culminating in a final exhibition-ready neon and ceramic artwork. Through this course, students will expand their technical versatility and explore light and form as interdependent sculptural media.
We will look at mid-century neon artists such as Cryssa, Lucio Fontana, Nam June Paik, and Martyelle Rayse, as well as contemporary work by Elaine Cameron Weir, Anselm Reyle, Ceryth Wyn Evans, Andrea Bowers, Shezad Dawood, Ivan Navarro, Blair Thurman, Jason Rhodes, Mary Weatherford, Glenn Ligon, Jochen Holz, Lionel Dinis Salazar and Jonathan Omar (Döppel Studio), and Demian DinéYazhi¿. Readings and selected text to include: Gyorgy Kepes¿ Light and Design, ¿Light as a Creative Medium¿ (1967); Wassily Kandinsky, ¿Psychological Workings of Color¿ (1911), and selections from Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi¿s Learning from Las Vegas (1972).
At the end of the course, students will have conceptualized, designed, and executed an exhibition-ready neon artwork, gained a working knowledge of industry standards and installation techniques, and assessed how the medium of light functions in their artistic anthology

Class Number

2272

Credits

3

Description

Neon Light & Ceramics introduces students to hybrid practices that combine neon glasswork and ceramic structures in sculptural and installation contexts. Students will learn foundational neon techniques¿glass bending, gas/voltage properties, wiring, and installation styles¿alongside ceramic methods for creating supports, housings, and interactive elements. Weekly rotations between the Neon Lab and Ceramics studios provide students with equal immersion in both materials. The course emphasizes hands-on skill building, conceptual development, and experimental applications, culminating in a final exhibition-ready neon and ceramic artwork. Through this course, students will expand their technical versatility and explore light and form as interdependent sculptural media.
We will look at mid-century neon artists such as Cryssa, Lucio Fontana, Nam June Paik, and Martyelle Rayse, as well as contemporary work by Elaine Cameron Weir, Anselm Reyle, Ceryth Wyn Evans, Andrea Bowers, Shezad Dawood, Ivan Navarro, Blair Thurman, Jason Rhodes, Mary Weatherford, Glenn Ligon, Jochen Holz, Lionel Dinis Salazar and Jonathan Omar (Döppel Studio), and Demian DinéYazhi¿. Readings and selected text to include: Gyorgy Kepes¿ Light and Design, ¿Light as a Creative Medium¿ (1967); Wassily Kandinsky, ¿Psychological Workings of Color¿ (1911), and selections from Denise Scott Brown and Robert Venturi¿s Learning from Las Vegas (1972).
At the end of the course, students will have conceptualized, designed, and executed an exhibition-ready neon artwork, gained a working knowledge of industry standards and installation techniques, and assessed how the medium of light functions in their artistic anthology

Class Number

2273

Credits

3

Description

This course offers advanced students a forum for critiques and discussion of contemporary ceramic directions. Emphasis is placed on individual development through complex integration of technology and information. Field trips and artists' studio tours provide a format for extensive dialogue. Students with a studio in the department are highly encouraged to enroll in this class.

Class Number

1350

Credits

3

Description

Taken every semester, the Graduate Projects courses allow students to focus in private sessions on the development of their work. Students register for 6 hours of Graduate Project credit in each semester of study.

Class Number

2105

Credits

3