Allison "Hueman" Torneros is an artist who doesn't mind breaking out of her comfort zone. The Los Angeles-based painter blends the beautiful and the grotesque and often works without a plan. She dominates two worlds, bringing her unique style onto the streets with massive murals or covering galleries in powerful canvases. Whether it's a collaboration with Nike, a mural for Diddy and Revolt TV, a wall 90-feet wide in San Francisco, or a reddit AMA, Hueman seems to approach each project with the same passion and emotion as she searches for "a happy medium."
We connected with Hueman and asked her to talk about her most important projects. She explained her process, her growth as an artist, and what her fans should be on the lookout for in the near future. Check out our Portfolio Review: Hueman Tells the Stories Behind Her Colorful, Fragmented Portraits.
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My process
Nike x Kobe Bryant
Being
Beast
Revolt TV
Berlin
London
Urduja, San Francisco
"I painted this 90x20-foot wall on the side of the Ian Ross Gallery. It's been my biggest wall to date. It was also my first time painting on corrugated metal and my first time operating a scissor lift. The piece is named Urduja Warrior Princess after a legendary warrior princess in the Philippines. The red on her eyes reminds me of war paint. Sometimes when I paint a big wall it's like I'm conquering a beast."
Revolting Youth
Ritual
"Ritual," Think Tank Gallery, Los Angeles
Landfall
Drunk In Luv
The City
"I painted The City in 2006. Stylistically, this was the first time I began to play with the whole idea of creating an abstract piece and letting a face emerge from the background, and also I think this is when hair became a big theme for me. I have offers from people interested in buying it, but I won't give it up because it holds a lot of weight for me. My brother died at 21 years old in a car wreck, and at the time I was 14. When I was a little girl, I would see him leave to go out with his friends, and when he'd come home, I'd bug him about where he went. He'd answer 'Somewhere over the rainbow.' He said one day he'd take me there, and I believed him. This piece is a self portrait, that city over the rainbow that I always imagined he'd bring me to.