My Size

Omar Rayo’s early formal experiments involved covering household objects, such as scissors and kitchen appliances, with moistened paper and letting them dry. The impressions that the objects made on the paper inspired Rayo to develop a printing technique that led to his first series of intaglios. The heavy weight of the watercolor paper that he used allowed sharp lines and edges to form, creating a material abstraction that enhanced the effects of shadow and light. Rayo is considered a forefather of Pop art, though he maintained his distance from the movement. “I always add something to the object in question—a poetic image, something that interests me within the work of art,” he explained. “Pop, it seems to me, actually takes away the poetry that objects have and makes them banal. I want to make then into something greater.” In "My Size", a pair of shoes appears perfectly aligned at the center of the paper, implicitly referencing the person—Rayo himself—to whom they belong. Devoid of color, the object has been reduced to its shape, emphasizing the paper’s materiality as both surface and inscription.

This text was created in collaboration with the University of Maryland Department of Art History & Archaeology and written by Patricia Ortega-Miranda.