Tomás Ochoa was born in Cuenca, Ecuador, in 1965, but has lived more than half of his life in other places: Mexico City, Madrid, Zurich, among other cities. He currently resides in the Colombian coffee-growing region of Eje Cafetero, a place whose history and landscapes are a magnificent inspiration for his work.
His studies are extensive: Language and Literature at the University of Cuenca, Visual Arts, Graduate Studies Division. UNAM – Mexico, Film Direction. ECAM. Madrid -Spain.
In 2003 he participated in the Venice Biennale and that was a turning point in his career. He has participated in other Biennials such as those of Cuenca, Singapore and several film festivals, as well as having solo and group exhibitions in different places around the world.
His work is innovative, in recent years he has worked in the technique of gunpowder on canvas. This is because, in the artist’s words: “By replacing the photographic grain with grains of gunpowder and throwing fire on them, I get a photograph without photography and a painting without painting. The digital era is depriving us of the tactile and roughness of paintings. I think these pieces aspire to the pictorial by their insinuating willingness to be touched. When seen from a distance or reduced to the size of a publication, they look like photographs”.
