Alberto Sanchez
‘I like to capture an image that is recognisable and then add and subtract elements to create my own form of magic realism’.
Alberto Sanchez is a photographer and painter who travels the world taking photographs. To these images he then applies his unique hand painting, spraying and etching techniques creating ‘hybrids’, where photographic documentary is meshed into highly original works of morphed shapes, dynamic brushstrokes and vivid colours. This alters what we conventionally see in a photograph: time and space narrative.
Alberto Sanchez’ work is simultaneously an inquiry into the nature and essence of how we perceive the world we live in. His aim is to challenge our perception in order to question our relationship with space and time. By using expressive colours and dynamic brush strokes he transforms the obvious and invites us into his parallel landscapes.
His body of work explores the notions of our human environment, urban expansionism and how individuals define themselves in an overloaded sensorial landscape. “The old world of Europe [for example] already has a strong set identity. It has an ancient history with many institutions and charismatic buildings which dominate the landscape. I try and stay away from the icons, yet capture a city that you can recognise.” In modern cities, “I had to figure out the key access points of the city, the major intersections where I could maximise the unity between human and metropolitan interaction.”
Artist Statement
"I grew up in a small town in Castilla (Spain), an area surrounded by medieval castles, Roman aqueducts and gothic cathedrals, culture and traditions that are still very much anchored in old Roman hierarchical structures. Moving to Australia 10 years ago, I have been able to reflect, with the safety of distance, on how our identity, defined by place and time yields to the ever present spectre of change.
I work with both urban settings and the natural world. Landscapes balance and complete me. The challenge I set myself in my work is to broaden the sense of these landscapes. Pursuing these ideas continue to inspire me every day. Painting the image brings the work a level of un-realism. The colours I use embody the energy and feelings of the place I have visited and photographed. I want the viewer to be aware that it has been intervened by hand, that it has an illustrative narrative only achieved through the physical application of paint. The painting modifies what is already there. I search for balance between photography and paint, which then becomes a hybrid of both.
Photography gives certainty, this is here, this is now. The camera records something that is, something that exists. I use black and white photography to minimise interference with perceived time or modern expectations of place."