Luz Oliveras’ body of work encapsulates the growing pains of queer adolescence, both sides of fear and joy coming together to challenge traditional and conservative ideals of purity. His work is vibrant, somber, and quietly joyful, often composed of a primary subject and several gestural blobs named “pudis,” amorphous bear-like characters that are cutesy and childish in nature.

The pudis come to symbolize the idea of purity and naive innocence created by a deeply conservative and traditionally modest space; one that exists on the basis of stripping away curiosity and exploration of the self, on creating and forcing this idea of dirtiness and cleanliness onto a young and curious life before they can truly explore their own desires. The pudis are purity and childlike wonder personified, and Luz’s works are the journey of living and growing through the obstacles rooted deep into the queer soul. Furthermore, his body of work continues to expand this idea while now exploring the concept of the internet as a genderless sexual body, how it defines itself in a limitless world, and what this means for the average queer user.