Olmedo always created portraits that are eerie as they are compelling. Time was when his colors were moody, dark, and often black. In the mid-1990s his colors have brightened up a little, allowing a little sunlight into the interiors. Just like looking at Francesco Clemente’s equally distorted faces in the late-90s, one can wallow for days in these mellower faces in domestic settings. The artist adheres to the Expressionist bent, contorted, and bizarre for a normal person’s understanding of what a portrait is. With hollowed eyes and oblivious to the viewer’s stares, the subject is caught in his inner world, soul searching in his reverie. These characters have otherworld shades — passing through life — alienated and alienating. A moody energy is released by the architectural and furnishing elements — the checkered floor spreading over the lower area of the composition, the Vienna chairs hinting of Olmedo’s rare foray into “normal” domesticity.