黑洞社区

Juan Gallardo S谩nchez creates narratives that portray Latin America through a whimsical lens while retributing candor to literary inaccuracies. Originally from Panama City, Panama, Juan is graduating with his MFA in Studio Art with a concentration in photo media from 黑洞社区鈥檚 School of Art, Design and Creative Industries.

What materials and processes do you use to create your work?

I consider myself to be an interdisciplinary artist鈥擨鈥檓 an animator by training, welder, visual artist, but above all - a storyteller. I would say the main physical medium I use is steel wire that I cold bend then weld at angles to create these large, often representational, shapes. I cover these steel structures with fabric coated in 鈥渕onster mud,鈥� a combination of wall paint and mortar mix, that creates a solidified hold when dried. I then project found footage, self-produced animations, and simulations onto the forms 鈥� which requires a whole separate set of technical materials and processes. There are also sound elements associated with the pieces, too, like recordings of myself reciting narratives I鈥檝e written.

What inspires your work?

Storytelling is the foundation of my work鈥攊t鈥檚 what motivates and dictates every decision that I make when creating a piece. I鈥檓 motivated by the stories of my family, friends, and home; good stories that I reflect on and cherish, and bad ones that I choose to learn from. For the most part, what motivates me at the moment are the more negative stories - negative in terms of things that have happened to my country.

I鈥檓 also drawing from this subjective experience that happens when you鈥檙e an immigrant. These stories implement things I was before I left my country with things I chose to accept as a part of me while I am here. How much of my humanity is comprised of things I am versus what was dealt or ascribed to me? There鈥檚 a lot I鈥檓 reflecting on.

Are all of these stories directly sourced from the people around you, or are some of them derived from historical recordings?

There鈥檚 a bit of both. There are stories in times of colonialism I might not be able to record any first-hand experiences of; but when discussing imperialism, not only are there historical recordings, I also have family members that were physically present to witness the events unfold.

Sometimes I also just read for leisure, and I find inspiration for research there. I鈥檓 very interested in magical realism, a literary genre that had its largest boom in Latin America. I read a lot of short stories by Gabriel Garc铆a M谩rquez, who I consider to be the godfather of the genre. Essentially, magical realism implements fantastical elements into a narrative that鈥檚 grounded in our reality. The narrators use an assertive voice to relay strange events, but because they鈥檙e speaking so confidently, you as an audience don鈥檛 question the veracity of the events.

Do you consider yourself to be a Magical Realist?

I鈥檓 going to go ahead and claim it鈥擨 do consider myself to be a Magical Realist! Even within the writing that I use in my installations, there is that element of recounting the fantastical or abnormal.

You create work that explores subtopics of dual identity through a variety of mediums and techniques. Have you ever felt pressure to limit yourself to a singular perspective - whether that be when identifying yourself or by the mediums that you communicate through visually?

Creating this work requires a lot of vulnerability, but I also have to be realistic and accept the fact that the lived experiences of the viewer might limit their ability to initially relate to my work. For the longest time, I questioned if I should just abolish the stories of my past and conform to what I thought people would understand. These stories of where I鈥檓 from, all this political inequity and instability鈥攖hose aren鈥檛 things I鈥檓 choosing to think about鈥攖hat will always stay with me. It鈥檚 affected my country in so many ways: through the way stories are told in schools, the architecture 鈥� so many influences. I wasn鈥檛 forced to think about these things, but it was inevitable.

Now, I鈥檓 comfortable with claiming both parts of my identity; not relinquishing my past, but also accepting this new status of being an immigrant. I believe that my voice as an author and artist is to enact the role of an educator, to welcome anyone who wants to learn into the space. That鈥檚 what the core of storytelling really is: sitting down with someone and sharing experiences. At the end of the day, it鈥檚 about realizing we鈥檙e more connected than we think. Colonialism and imperialism, while not specific to Panama, are still practiced today, which is why I feel they鈥檙e important to talk about. While these stories are not the first, they can be the last; but they won鈥檛 be the last if we don鈥檛 talk about it.

Juan will be exhibiting his terminal project, 鈥渘o se pa donde voy pero se de donde vengo,鈥� at Harvester Arts by appointment, with an opening reception on Friday, May 3rd from 6-9 p.m.