Omi Torres

In my current body of work, I create still life oil paintings that incorporate personal items and isolated body parts that are used to reflect on gender and sexuality in contemporary society. By surrounding the objects with a white background and taking them out of context I want the viewer to think of the objects as being symbolic. In painting my body and personal items, I aim for the viewer to understand the intimate connection I have with this series. By using a portrait format I touch upon the ideas of self-reflection, gender being a human concept, as well as the paintings themselves being self-portraits.

Being a part of the lgbtq+ community, I see this as a way to research and reflect upon others and myself. In making this work, I intend for the audience to question what defines gender and sexuality in a contemporary society, how policies and societal norms can negatively affect people, and how ones own gender plays into how the view art. My overall vision is to express how ideas of gender can either hinder or unburden others and ourselves.

Omi is a born and raised Chicago artist. They are recent graduate from the American Academy of Art with a BFA in oil painting. Omi is interested in exploring gender and sexuality and what it means in today’s society.

© Omi Torres