Mohamed Omar was born in Somalia and moved to Portland, Oregon when he was five years old.  By his own account, his work is rooted in a deep concern for color:

“I get inspired by different colors. I like red, yellow, and green. Red and yellow, when it mixes, I kinda like the color it makes. And the sunset, I think it’s orange. I like blue because of the blue sky, and I like the cars because I like to look at cars online and then do paintings. When I am painting, I have to use different paint brushes. Sometimes it’s kind of hard to paint, but when it’s hard I ask people for help.”

While his early paintings focused primarily on stunning sunsets, often over water, Mo has been drawn increasingly towards figuration where he has developed a playful, expressive style all his own.  In loosely-rendered and heavily layered scenes, spindly cartoon characters and jungle cats mingle with discrete blocks of color and bubble letter messages.  Like the bright sunsets he reveres, Mohamed’s artworks invite you to bask in their warmth.  In addition to his work as a visual artist, Mohamed is a member of the audiovisual collective Videotones and records music under the name M. Omar.  His debut album Mo’s World was released on cassette via Cityland Tapes in 2023, and his second album, Love in Slow Motion, was released in 2025. He has performed his original music several times to critical acclaim.

 “I like rap music, and I enjoy doing rap music. Different people like to buy rap music tapes, and I enjoy when they buy them, and I’m impressed that they buy them.”