Meet Omar. Painter, conversationalist, and explorer of perception. During his Heavy Body Acrylic residency, Omar experimented with new colors and techniques while creating a series of portraits dealing with the concept of sonder:

“It means that each passerby has a life just as vivid and detailed as your own. And for me, that is so present in my work because I am trying to capture this person in their entirety just in an image and remind people that these people are people outside of these paintings.”

By drawing reference from people in his life, those he finds on Instagram, and random passerbys, Omar digs beneath common perceptions of people based on appearance and creates work that elicits a dialogue about stereotypes vs. individuality.

“I’m interested in people having a conversation about perception, perception of others. How there are stereotypes that are made, but we always have to say ‘Oh, not everyone is like that’.”

 “It’s really what my work is all about. Saying that we are individuals and I think there is value in us being who we are for one, but more so as seeing us as that and not putting us into these boxes before you get to acknowledge these labels that we put on ourselves.”

Watch him in action.