NORMALITY NOT

Normality Not is about a journey into life. It’s about what happens when you discover life is not a plan, a prescription or an expectation… it is only a journey, an exploration, a discovery waiting to happen. 

Norma Torres started having problems with her eye sight in her early twenties. But her father, a graphic designer, calligrapher, and photographer, refused to accept the problems and kept sending Norma “to take the camera for a walk”. Norma developed an intuitive photographic style, almost a form of synesthesia, whereby she could feel the composition of a photograph before she understood it. She still captures her photographs while “taking the camera for a walk”. 

In 2006 Norma’s eye sight had weakened to the point of becoming legally blind and she had to learn new skills and adapt to a new lifestyle. She trained under blindfold at the Orientation Center for the Blind in Albany, California. It was there that she discovered how essential creative expression was for her and where she learned to crochet. 

She went on to learn about amigurumi, a Japanese style of crocheting little toys and characters. Norma took to this 3-dimensional style of crocheting naturally and soon was creating art dolls and sculptures. She is most known for doing “mini me” dolls, custom made dolls that resemble specific people. She considers them aspiration dolls -  something to help you see who you are and what you want to be.

The next phase of her journey continues her exploration of sculpture. Using paper clay she is letting her fingers see and create. Textiles and photography are still involved for a multi-media approach. Stay tuned… the journey continues.