ABOUT MY PRACTICE
In my practice, I am fascinated with exploring the hyperreal through abstraction and distortion. I utilize fragmented images, sourced from my daily life, as a means of processing life in a post-digital world. To be an artist today, I believe our language needs to adapt. My traditional oil painting process is steeped with digital artifacts. I create compositions and edit and reverse until the photos are an entirely new subject. With this, remains of pixels, or dimensions of spaces conjoin to make a space entirely unreal and unrecognizable. I am fascinated by this digital collaboration because it makes work that treads the line between abstract and representational, real and unreal. Painting these images makes them even more jarring by pushing them further into the tangible world, much like the way our digital lives keep inching into our real ones.
It is in this style and language that I explore themes of memory, identity, intimacy, and coming of age. As an individual, I feel inundated with media and information so constantly that I find it difficult to reach any sort of clarity. Inevitably, exploring these themes in my work acts as both a means for me to understand, and a very true reflection of my relationship with them. I enjoy painting very complex, small details and 'micro images' can be found hidden all over the canvas. In this process of understanding I find nuances of truth that allow me to describe these small moments of clarity as I paint.
​
- Torreya Simon
01
memory
My artistic exploration focuses on the materiality of memory, exploring how memories are stored and perceived. I am fascinated with how this exacerbates the tension between reality and abstraction by contrasting literal depictions with conceptual representations. This approach examines how memories are distorted or reinterpreted through the experience of reliving them, revealing the complexities of our past. Through this layering, I aim to make memory tangible and immersive, reflecting the emotional and cultural forces that shape each moment.
02
technology and the digital age
My artistic exploration is deeply influenced by digital culture, artifacts, and aesthetics, exploring the fracturing of reality through the lens of hyperreality. I examine how digital simulations and constant stimuli affect our perception, focusing on the interplay between materialization and dissolution. Through abstraction and fragmented imagery, I reveal how these influences both solidify and unravel our understanding of the world, reflecting the complex dynamics of contemporary experience.
03
identity and youth
I explore themes of identity, youth, and female relationships by examining the nuanced experiences that shape these aspects of life. Through abstraction, I delve into personal and cultural narratives, subverting conventional views these themes. This approach addresses the complexities of intimacy, reshaping our understanding of relationships and the self while offering a deeper and often provocative perspective.
