We were lucky to catch up with Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alfonso , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Pursuing an artistic career always felt very natural. Growing up, my parents packed our weekends with museums and orchestra concerts, and my siblings and I took painting and music lessons from a very young age. I decided I wanted to pursue a career in music when I was 16, after having played the double bass for about four years. This led me to a music pre-college program, and later on to Conservatory. As though I’ve always enjoyed playing, being immersed in a competitive environment led me to a solitary lifestyle, where I had to sacrifice what made me fall in love with music in the first place, such as the community aspect, for hours in a practice room. It was not until the pandemic, feeling burnt out and constantly hitting creative walls, that I decided to expand my horizons and take Art History classes. I began to re-discover a burning passion for art that was always there, but had been overlooked for years. I began to get involved with more and more artists and creatives in my community, and spent countless time in museums, galleries, and reading history books. Soon after, I began exploring the intersections between music and art through small composition and research projects that I presented in classes or with small audiences. This is where I was suggested to pursue a career in curation, which has now allowed me to be constantly collaborating with artists, expanding my research and practice, and bringing more projects to wider audiences.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Alfonso Sanchez Herrera Lasso, a curator and double bassist born in Mexico City, currently based in the DC-Baltimore metro area. I moved to the United States with my family when I was 18, and after one year I got accepted in the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD.), to pursue a degree in music performance. During my undergrad, I took art history courses and fell in love with the historical intersections found in music and art. After taking a class at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), I had the opportunity to meet the artistic community, including some of the faculty and students. Deciding to apply for an MFA degree in Curatorial Practice from MICA felt natural, as everyone I had met was incredibly talented and supportive of my vision and projects. In the summer of 2023, I had the opportunity to work at Museo de Arte de Queretaro in Mexico, as an Assistant Curator and Director’s Assistant. In my time there, I learned valuable lessons about the art world and how to navigate it. Most importantly, however, I developed a true passion for contemporary art, particularly that which observes at the world from a critical point of view and addresses specific cultural phenomena. My current practice centers around architecture, design, and conceptual art, exploring the complexities of society and the space, through the work of both domestic and international artists.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
For me, it’s the community and the connections you make. I’ve learned so much about life and my own craft just by being around, doing studio visits, looking at what other people around me and all over the world are doing, and getting involved in things out of my comfort zone that challenge me. I believe that there is no better way to come up with a curatorial initiative than having it develop naturally by the activities you do everyday and the people you meet and work with along the way. There are few things more rewarding than seeing a project come to life through collaborative work with those who share a passion in something, and a similar drive to put a valuable message out there.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
It would be hard to identify one singular goal, since my exhibitions tend to tackle different subjects. However, I always approach them with the same mentality of looking for a valuable message worth sharing, championing the artists, and allowing them to be the voice and force disseminating that said message.
I strive to make my curatorial endeavors stand out from one another by conveying in them a different character, finding a particular purpose for each, and sharing them with an audience that will be positively impacted. This way, the mission itself changes every time, and I constantly challenge myself to become very educated and familiar with the concept of the particular project, knowing that it will help me grow as an artist and individual, and I will fulfill my purpose better.
For instance, for my latest exhibition “This Is Not Your Grave”, which I co-curated with my cohort at MICA, we explored the concepts of trauma and healing, centering on the human experience and the ever-evolving nature of recovery and regeneration. In contrast, an upcoming show I have will analyze the physical space and the human role within its surroundings, bringing in both domestic and international voices to have a broader view and celebrate multiculturalism.
With these two examples, I addressed different aspects of art and humanity, and therefore, the goals are different from one another. Nonetheless, the overarching theme, which to answer your question could be part of my overall mission as a curator, is the creation of a reflective space, where one questions its role in the world and challenges oneself to leave their own minds for a while and discover new ways of thinking and acting.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @alfonsosanchez0607
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alfonso-sanchez-305171220/
Image Credits
Ireanna Rogers (headshot)
Vivian Marie Doering (exhibition shots)