courtesy Cornelia White Swann | UTSA Satellite Space nabel Toribio's self-portraits show her in the very intimate act of her medicine-cabinet regimen.

WHO: Anabel Toribio, 28

MEDIUM: Oil on canvas

BEST KNOWN FOR: Paintings of people's medicine cabinets. “I feel like some of the products in there tell stories about the people and reveal their insecurities,” Toribio said. “They're very much portraits.” The medicine cabinets belong mostly to her friends and family, and the differences in their toiletries — cologne, shaving cream, pills, hairspray, nail polish — are indeed telling. Toribio's grandfather's cabinet contains Super Macho virility formula, Hongo Killer antifungal cream, leche de burra cream and other ethnic health and beauty products. Another piece features the products a male friend gave Toribio when she told him she wanted to paint them, which included a box of condoms. “I think it's funny that's important for him to put Trojan Magnums in there,” she said. Some of the paintings also incorporate traditional portraits of the people peering into a mirror. A self-portrait depicts Toribio applying foundation to her face; in another panel, she appears pensive, contemplating what she is choosing to put on her skin to mask imperfections. “It's mainly this need for what we have in this bottle,” she said.

BACKGROUND: Toribio was born in Houston and earned her BFA at Baylor University. She graduates in December from UTSA, where she is finishing up an MFA in painting.

CHECK HER OUT: “Sweet Remedy: Narratives in Oil,” Toribio's MFA show, is up through Sunday, Dec. 16, at UTSA Satellite Space, 115 Blue Star in the Blue Star Arts Complex (S. Alamo at Probandt). The gallery is open noon-6 p.m. Friday-Sunday or by appointment; call (210) 458-4391.

Jessica Belasco | 210SA Contributor