DVAA Member since 2022
Omar Buenaventura
About:
Omar Buenaventura is a self-taught Filipino-American installation artist living in Lenapehoking. In 2020, Omar and his partner Nicky Uy formed Bahay215, an ongoing art collaboration inspired by Filipinx tradition, diaspora, community and nature. Inspired by his local environment as well as his childhood experiences growing up in the Philippines, Omar’s work commonly implements reclaimed wood and locally grown bamboo. His work has been featured in The Rail Park’s Tire Swing Fund Project, Free Library of Philadelphia for the Chronicling Resistance Exhibition, Fleisher Art Memorial’s Día de los Muertos event, and Asian Arts Initiative.
Artist Statement:
“Honoring the past through art and practice, I believe my work is an act of resistance. I make Filipino inspired art with what is around and readily available. I enjoy reclaiming and upcycling materials; rusted iron, bamboo and weathered wood sway me. I bring new life to things that the modern world considers discardable. The pieces I make are rustic and asymmetrical with defects that give it life and character. Currently, I have an interactive Seed Library (a collaboration with Philadelphia seed keepers) on display at the Free Library of Philadelphia for the Chronicling Resistance Exhibition, as well as a self sustaining wood Community Planter adorned with pyrographic precolonial Philippine script outside Asian Arts Initiative. Two other projects with local Philly Artists, Tahanan (with Maria Dumlao) and La Sombrilla (with José Ortiz-Pagán) can be seen at NextFab North Philadelphia.”
