Laya Monarez
Laya Monarez, a transgender latinx artist, received her BFA in 2005 from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her oil paintings combine surrealism, activism, science and abstract expressionism. She is influenced by surrealists and artists such as Salvador Dali, Max Ernst, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera and Takashi Murakami. She is an advocate for trans rights and decriminalizing sex work. Laya has several murals in DC and her work has been shown in various galleries including the Art Museum of the Americas, Hole in the Sky and the DC LGBTQ+ Community Center.
@layamonarez
A surreal figure painting that portrays Amanda Lapore, a famous NYC party personality, and her friends on a surgical table. This painting has them hugging themselves dressed in different gender presentations and forces the viewer to confront how gender, sex, transness and surgeries connect. Putting trans people on a surgical table makes them appear on a stage below spot lights. I'm hoping it creates a conversation about how people ask trans people about their surgeries and feel like they have access to their bodies. Also what is it that makes us our genders, our bodies, our identifications or our presentations.
My Hair Looks Fierce
Oil on canvas, 24” x 36”