Susana Torres explores themes of Peruvian identity, as well as gender stereotypes through her diverse artistic practice. She began her career as a self-taught photographer, having studied Art History at the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos in Lima. As a founding member of the collective Sociedad Civil, she actively opposed the authoritarian regime and struggled for the re-establishment of democracy in Peru. Torres teaches art at the Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas and her work has been included in the 6th Havana Biennial, the frst two Lima Biennials and the 2009 Trienal de Chile.

Peruvian Inca-brand cigarettes, tinned fish, a guide book and a favoured soft drink are a few of the everyday items Susana Torres transforms into works of art. Exquisitely depicted across a full range of monochromatic tones, each object is brought into its own sculptural form. In the branding of popular consumer items, the ancestral heritage of the Inca Empire – a point of national identity and pride – is commonly referenced as seen in Torres’s chosen objects. In re-contextualising the familiar, the artist invites the viewer to contemplate the relationship between consumerism and the Inca culture that is unique to Peruvian society. ‘The Inca is not only the embalmed mummy in the sheltered treasure chamber, sometimes called a museum,’ Torres notes. ‘The Inca is also outside, in all forms and colours, packaged in millions of disposable containers to be bought and sold.’