Art Pictures

Photographer Selina Román reimagines the body in a new Sarasota Art Museum exhibit [Photos]

4 months ago
3 mins

  • A low-angle shot of a person from the shoulders down, wearing a peachy-pink bodysuit and light purple leggings. Their body is round and soft, with a large belly and thick thighs. A pink, semi-circle shape rests on top of their shoulders, suggesting a head. The background is a solid, light blue color. The texture and color suggest this is a photo of a sculpture or art piece
    Selina Román (American, 1978). Blockhead 1, 2025. Dye sublimation on aluminum, 40 x 50 in. Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román
  • Selina Román (American, 1978). Ballhead, 2021. Dye sublimation on aluminum, 30 x 24 in. Courtesy of the artist Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román
  • Selina Román (American, 1978). Rectangle Blockhead, 2025. Dye sublimation on aluminum, 50 x 40 in. Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román
  • Selina Román (American, 1978). Purple Spread, 2025. Print on vinyl, 88 x 221 in. Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román
  • Selina Román (American, 1978). XS15, 2025. Dye sublimation on aluminum. Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román
  • Selina Román (American, 1978). Landscape, 2025. Dye sublimation on aluminum, 40 x 114 in. Credit: Courtesy of Selina Román

Selina Román doesn’t fit in the frame of her self portraits. And she’s not trying to.

In her new installation, “Abstract Corpulence,” the Tampa native and Ringling College photography professor known for delightfully uncomfortable work, turns the lens inward, using her own plus-sized body as both subject and medium.

At the B. Claire Rusen Gallery, the exhibition that began Aug. 31 blends photography, self-portraiture, and installation into a dreamlike exploration of form, vulnerability, and power.

Wearing pastel bodysuits and tights, Román twists and contorts herself into tightly cropped compositions that dissolve the figure into undulating landscapes and sculptural abstractions.

 “This is what I want people to feel: that bigness isn’t a flaw. It’s a presence,” Román explains in a release.

The installation pushes back against conventional beauty narratives while embracing what Román calls the “absolute bigness” off her body. Sarasota Art Museum senior curator Rangsook Yoon describes the work as “an unapologetic embrace” of size and form, infused with humor, defiance, and critical play with popular culture. 

Román, who has long photographed other women in staged portraits, avoided self-portraiture until now. This pivot feels both deeply personal and communal. 

“I think self portraiture may be the most challenging genre of artmaking,” she says. “To turn the camera on ourselves takes a good deal of bravery. In these images, we reveal ourselves in a multitude of ways.”

Her newest works move beyond single-frame photographs, toward composite, collage-like images that heighten scale and control while maintaining raw emotional force. The result is at once intimate and expansive, inviting viewers to consider their own relationship to size, presence, and beauty.

“Abstract Corpulence” runs through March 29 at the Sarasota Art Museum. The exhibit is included in the museum’s $20  admission. Students under 17, veterans, and Ringling College Students get in free.

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