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Interview With
Nicolas V Sanchez
Paintings
Ethan, oil on canvas, 24x30in, 2018
Flash 1, oil on canvas, 24x30in, 2017
TNYO: Hello Nicolas it is a pleasure to meet you and have the opportunity to feature your work.
I tend to go by my first instinct and when I view your paintings I am seeing struggle, the struggle of life and the beauty that comes from it. Am I close with this or is it just my impression?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: I think there is definitely a sense of struggle in my work. I focus on identity and the way its constructed and at the same time lost through the preservation of family history. Extracting from my bi-cultural experiences growing up, my family's rural Mexican history, and the American Midwest I use layered narratives to activate a personal sense of uncertainty yet a familiarity of space. Questions are constantly revealing themselves to me through the inheritance of my family's traditions and values from another place and time.
It's difficult to sort out these ideals in my current life, but I explore it in my work.
TNYO: What do animals - (especially the sheep) mean to you and your representation of them in your paintings?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: Sheep don't necessarily serve a specific symbol for anything that the other animals don't already represent, but I do like using them in my work the most. They give the right kind of energy and tone to my work and I like painting them. The animals come from the part of my family's rural culture in Mexico.
They often appear in my work as some kind of bridge or link from the past to the present.
TNYO: Who are some of your favorite artists?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: As painters, I admire many artists including Sargent, Velasquez, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Sorolla, Lucian Freud and the list goes on. I also like choreographer Mia Michaels.
TNYO: can you tell me a little about the books you make and that are on your website, are they for sale?
Nicolas V Sanchez: The books on my website are no longer available, but I have books currently in progress
and will be up on my website soon.
A sense of elasticity in my studio practice is important to me and to the work.
I use different mediums and make work in different scales so
the small themed books of ballpoint pen drawings evolved out of Moleskine sketchbooks that
I carried everywhere and worked in while on the train.
TNYO: Your Ink work looks like a painting in every case, can you tell me about this work the mediums the paper the inspiration to do this kind of work?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: I apply basic painting principles in my drawings. I layer different colors through crosshatching to create form. Because I don't create a preliminary pencil drawing, it
pushes me to become more disciplined and develop a sense of agility when working in ink. Drawing in pen can feel restrictive, but to me, it offers a drawing experience with the sense of freedom.
TNYO: Where are you from, whats your background, are you connected to country living, are you single, married in a relationship and does any of these affect your work?
Nicolas V Sanchez: I am from Lansing, Michigan where I received my BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. I later moved to New York and received my MFA from the New York Academy of Art. I was born and raised in mid-Michigan,
United States where I had equal access to urban neighborhoods, open farmland, and woods. Images from the rural Midwest appear in my work. I have been drawing all my life since I can remember. Surrounded by a creative family growing up, drawing was introduced and nurtured by my father at an early age.
I am married living and working in New York City.
TNYO: Can you offer us a music pick of something you might listen to while painting?
Marvin Gaye- Mercy Mercy Me, Whats Goin On,
I tend to go by my first instinct and when I view your paintings I am seeing struggle, the struggle of life and the beauty that comes from it. Am I close with this or is it just my impression?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: I think there is definitely a sense of struggle in my work. I focus on identity and the way its constructed and at the same time lost through the preservation of family history. Extracting from my bi-cultural experiences growing up, my family's rural Mexican history, and the American Midwest I use layered narratives to activate a personal sense of uncertainty yet a familiarity of space. Questions are constantly revealing themselves to me through the inheritance of my family's traditions and values from another place and time.
It's difficult to sort out these ideals in my current life, but I explore it in my work.
TNYO: What do animals - (especially the sheep) mean to you and your representation of them in your paintings?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: Sheep don't necessarily serve a specific symbol for anything that the other animals don't already represent, but I do like using them in my work the most. They give the right kind of energy and tone to my work and I like painting them. The animals come from the part of my family's rural culture in Mexico.
They often appear in my work as some kind of bridge or link from the past to the present.
TNYO: Who are some of your favorite artists?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: As painters, I admire many artists including Sargent, Velasquez, Antonio Lopez Garcia, Sorolla, Lucian Freud and the list goes on. I also like choreographer Mia Michaels.
TNYO: can you tell me a little about the books you make and that are on your website, are they for sale?
Nicolas V Sanchez: The books on my website are no longer available, but I have books currently in progress
and will be up on my website soon.
A sense of elasticity in my studio practice is important to me and to the work.
I use different mediums and make work in different scales so
the small themed books of ballpoint pen drawings evolved out of Moleskine sketchbooks that
I carried everywhere and worked in while on the train.
TNYO: Your Ink work looks like a painting in every case, can you tell me about this work the mediums the paper the inspiration to do this kind of work?
Nicolas V. Sanchez: I apply basic painting principles in my drawings. I layer different colors through crosshatching to create form. Because I don't create a preliminary pencil drawing, it
pushes me to become more disciplined and develop a sense of agility when working in ink. Drawing in pen can feel restrictive, but to me, it offers a drawing experience with the sense of freedom.
TNYO: Where are you from, whats your background, are you connected to country living, are you single, married in a relationship and does any of these affect your work?
Nicolas V Sanchez: I am from Lansing, Michigan where I received my BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI. I later moved to New York and received my MFA from the New York Academy of Art. I was born and raised in mid-Michigan,
United States where I had equal access to urban neighborhoods, open farmland, and woods. Images from the rural Midwest appear in my work. I have been drawing all my life since I can remember. Surrounded by a creative family growing up, drawing was introduced and nurtured by my father at an early age.
I am married living and working in New York City.
TNYO: Can you offer us a music pick of something you might listen to while painting?
Marvin Gaye- Mercy Mercy Me, Whats Goin On,
Backwoods flock 3, oil on canvas, 24x30in, 2017
Inheritance II*, oil on linen, 84 x 174 in, 2012, details
Rush, oil on canvas, 14x18in, 2017
Pickle jar, oil on canvas, 24x30in, 2017
Rosas, oil on canvas, 24x30in, 2016
Puerta Verde *, oil on linen, 42 x 50 in, 2014, detail
Nicolas V. Sanchez received his BFA from Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, MI and his MFA from the New York Academy of Art. While at the Academy, Sanchez was awarded the 2014 New York Academy of Art Post-Graduate Fellowship.
He has been selected for artist residencies in China, Dominican Republic, and Venice and has been featured in VOGUE Italia, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Drawing Magazine, and Fine Art Connoisseur. Sanchez has been in solo and group exhibitions in New York, China, and Italy including an exhibition in Venice during the 2015 Venice Biennale. Sanchez currently lives and works in New York City.
He has been selected for artist residencies in China, Dominican Republic, and Venice and has been featured in VOGUE Italia, Vanity Fair, New York Magazine, Drawing Magazine, and Fine Art Connoisseur. Sanchez has been in solo and group exhibitions in New York, China, and Italy including an exhibition in Venice during the 2015 Venice Biennale. Sanchez currently lives and works in New York City.
Lineage *, oil on canvas, 14 x 18 in, 2014
Heiress *, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in, 2014, detail
Primos *, oil on canvas, 24 x 30 in, 2014, detail
Sombra *, oil on canvas, 36x48in, 2014
Nest *, oil on canvas, 36 x 60 in, 2013
Extraction *, oil on linen, 48 x 72 in, 2013, detail
Crown *, oil on canvas, 18 x 24 in, 2013
Small Paintings
oil on panel, 10x10in, 2017
oil on panel, 4x4in, 2016
Suspension *, oil on board, 20 x 20 in, 2012