VICTORIA MONTESINOS

learned the rigorous veladuras technique of painstakingly building up texture and depth through many fine layers of paint.

By introducing marble, sand, and stone as textural elements, as well as stenciling techniques, Montesinos creates a subtle topography for her floral universe. Most notably, Montesinos is able to achieve nearly subliminal incandescence through a medieval method of applying gold leaf to the canvas before painting. Since this process is so labor intensive and time consuming, Montesinos will spend two to three weeks absorbed in a single canvas.

"I decided to make flowers my only focus of attention," says Montesinos from her Manhattan studio. "I really wanted to explore and go inside their world, find all the textures, layers, and passages in just one flower. They are small universes. I feel captured by their beauty. Flowers are an incredible way for nature to show the infinity of existing colors."