TOMÁS OLIVA was born in Havana, Cuba.
Studied at San Alejandro Art Academy, Havana, Cuba (BA.); at the former Kiev State Art Institute, present National Academy of Visual Arts and Architecture of Ukraine (MFA.) and more recent at the University of the Arts ISA, Havana, Cuba (Master's Degree in Contemporary Symbolic Production and Sociocultural Mediation).
Oliva has an extensive teaching carrier spanning for twenty plus years in prestigious institutions as San Alejandro Fine Arts Academy, in Cuba; the Autonomous Metropolitan University, in Mexico; Seattle Central College, The Olympic College, Edmonds Community College, and Pratt Art Center in the United States of America.
Some of his monumental sculptures are displayed in public places around the world (Downtown Nashua, Brookline, Sumner, Kirkland, Lummi Island, and Miami in the United States; he also, has large works installed in Chile, South India, Cuba, Russia, Cyprus, and in Ukraine.)
Oliva's themes are inspired by the extreme distress generated by society upon the vast majority of individuals. Also the artist’s inspiration comes from allegories to Greek mythologies.
To – To series, are inspired in the aboriginal Taino images of the “Cemies”.
His influences also include artists Ernst Barlach, Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, and Kate Kollwitz among others.