Yolanda Sánchez
We must learn to see more, to hear more, to feel more. Susan Sontag
Nature, in a very broad sense, is my source of inspiration. In a non-intellectual way, I am translating and projecting thoughts, emotions and sensations, into a moment of meeting, working with light, color and mark and the materiality of the paint itself. I am holding a space for the viewer – to enter, to be there, to have a moment of contemplation, and to finish the work, as it were. Subject and object are dissolved and replaced by a presence – a “presence without form.” There is no story to be told, just simply a desire to awaken.
From a formal perspective, my study and training in calligraphy and my background in dance inform my marks. Calligraphy, like dance, is an interaction of movement and pause, energy and stillness. Full of motion, like individual dances of line and form, the marks are a universal aesthetic, conveying a life force, independent of meaning or readability. Rhythm, harmony of opposing forces, sense of space, purity and mystery, the gestural brushstroke – these qualities make up my process.
My work is influenced by poetry, Eastern philosophy and the compositional structures of Chinese and Japanese classical ink painting, generating visual images that integrate drawing, writing and painting. My interest is not in making art that looks Asian, but in tapping into the energy or power that lies underneath these aesthetics, maintaining nature as my central element and making work that is spiritually infused. Parallel to the work of other American artists such as Franz Kline, Brice Marden and Cy Twombly, I endeavor to tap into the dynamic liveliness of the brushstroke and capture its poetic content, blurring the lines between language and visual representation.
Born in Cuba and raised in Miami, I am a product of that "supersyncretic" (Benitez-Rojo) culture, which is the Caribbean. At times not certain of the language I am speaking, I improvise and remain open to other influences, like a traveler roaming and crossing borders.
Making art for me is a way of being present in the world; it is an act of attention. And through this attention, I give back and offer praise to the world. As such, my work is celebratory, expanding, opening, and about offering pleasure.
