Mexico City, Mexico – Paper & mixed media
Written by Karen Womack
Jacobo Alonso’s is inspired by the human body – how it moves, how it is seen, and how it functions over time.
His first theme was body in constant movement and he began by making paper impressions of his own body. The paper was treated with fire to make the impressions. One day he filmed himself and realized he was making performance art.
A related series of work was based on interstitium, the small spaces between parts of the body, for example between fingers. A stencil-like design fills in the spaces between the body images and shapes the piece.
Jacobo began exploring other mediums due to the sculpting limitations of paper and hazards of working with fire. His discovery led him to felt which he pleats and molds into facial and body sculptures.
He is a self-describe collector of many different materials, including medical X-ray films. X-rays represent various conditions of body mechanics without the flesh. Jacobo cut hexagon shapes from the bone cell portion of the film and sewed them together by hand into a piece that mimics a traditional grandmother’s garden quilt design. The film gives the piece a sheen. The colors of the X-rays depend on whether the image was old, over exposed, unclear, etc.
Jacobo plans to attend the opening reception in June to talk about his body of work. He is looking forward to the trip. We hope you will make plans to attend.
Follow Jacobo.Alonso on Instagram