Omar Reyna 
2025 Longlist
Artist Bio
Omar Reyna is a Mexican-Canadian interdisciplinary artist who focuses on the intersection of research and the activity of making. He believes that the process of making while experimenting serves as a form of physical thinking. Much of his artistic practice takes place in the boreal forest near Whitehorse, where he lives and works.
Born in Mexico City and now residing in Yukon, Canada, Omar has studied visual communication, photography, sculpture, painting, and the philosophy of image. His work has been exhibited in various countries, including Canada, Argentina, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and the USA. Notably, Omar is a finalist for the Yukon Prize for Visual Arts in 2023.
Artist Statement
I see my art practice as an act of contriving worlds beyond the visible, between the real and the imagined. I aim to trigger events and actions that connect, disturb and question what we perceive. My approach is much as cerebral as a physical engagement. Research and reflection are a big part of my process, but I also think, articulate, and conceptualize through the activity of making. In my view, making while experimenting is a form of physical thinking. Many of my art-making processes rely on an unfocused mind where I make progress, eluding direct thinking.
Apart
Photography, eco-poetry and automatic writing. Dimensions: Variable
Show More
This work-in-progress photographic series, titled “Apart,” explores the concept of place through the view of “Solastalgia”, which represents the sense of loss related to the natural world. Drawing inspiration from eco-poetry and automatic writing, the series will consist of 15 photographs accompanied by various poems.
APART
why do we have to own everything you are?
to possess and modify the whole of you?
I like to imagine you far away
where no one bothers you,
and that we are ok where you are,
away from us.
If we could sense
that you and we are the same,
that if you died, we die
that if you suffer, we will too.
Are we doing self-sabotage?
Are we not the same?
Can you help us?
Can we help ourselves?
Music Box I
Sculpture. Dimensions: 31x31x31 cm
Show More
This small figure, crafted from discarded children’s toys and watercolour paper, is an sculptural piece of “An Ocean Roaming through the Forest,” a project that explores turbulence both as a physical phenomenon and as a metaphor for the complex situations we encounter in our daily lives. Music Box I delves into the unpredictability of existence.
Music Box II
Sculpture. Dimensions: 31x31x31 cm
Show More
This small figure, crafted from discarded children’s toys and watercolour paper, is the first sculptural piece in the project “An Ocean Roaming through the Forest,” a project that explores turbulence both as a physical phenomenon and as a metaphor for the complex situations we encounter in our daily lives. Music Box I delves into the unpredictability of existence.
The sudden death of a massive star
Photo-Sculpture. Dimensions: 55x65x3 cm
Show More
The Sudden Death of a Massive Star is part of “Last Happened,” a new work-in-progress body of work that explores the astronomical regions known as black holes. This project examines the concept that a dark void exists within each of us and questions whether this darkness represents the salvation of the cosmos or the imminent end of our world. Are we experiencing the Anthropocene as our event horizon in which we witness the continuous disappearance of species and ecosystems?
“Last Happened” comprises nine black-and-white film photographs transformed into six mixed-media photosculptural objects. With this project, I am expanding my artistic practice to include mixed-media works that possess length, breadth, and a sense of depth. The layering of photography with watercolour paper creates elevations and depressions, as well as holes that establish a unique spatial connection between the artwork and its viewers.
Perishable
Photography series comprising 9 images. Dimensions: variables
Show More
This work explores the finitude of our flesh, a concept we often deny when we are young or in good health. However, the decay of our bodies begins at birth and continues regardless of our will. Acknowledging the inevitable end of our physical existence can evoke overwhelming emotions. The understanding that our bodies are merely temporal vessels can produce a profound fear that lurks within us. Ultimately, it leads to the realization of our mortality: all lives are, in a sense, hidden deaths.
The creation of this photographic series was an emotional response to my father’s death, which came soon after he was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer and faced a difficult passing.