“Diffusion,” color ballpoint pen, 8 x 10 inches. All images © Nicolas V. Sanchez, shared with permission
When Nicolas V. Sanchez’s dad was young, he was partially raised by his grandfather in Mexico while his own father established roots in Michigan. “My great grandfather bred show horses for festivals and performances, and my dad told me about a specific horse in particular that did not meet my great grandfather’s ‘standard’ for showing,” Sanchez tells Colossal. “He gave that horse to my dad as a childhood pet.”
This particular equine was a skinny, scraggly white horse that was blind in one eye, and Sanchez’s father named him Ojo de Vidrio, or “glass eye.” The artist (previously) was struck by this story and the connection to his relatives and ancestral traditions. He says:
When I decided to include Ojo de Vidrio in my work, my intention was not to paint a breathing, living horse. I don’t know this horse firsthand. The texture of the horse are like the textured, colorful walls in Mexico ,with bright colors peeking through. Not fur. This horse is an emblem, serving as a vessel that carries with it my family history from a different place and time.
Sanchez has long been fascinated by stories and memories of his heritage in Mexico, and in an ongoing series of sketchbook titled Herencia, or “inheritance,” he calls on memories and narratives that connect his past to the present. Meticulously detailed, realistic renderings emerge from ballpoint pen, and recently he has scaled up considerably to translate some horse portraits into life-size oil paintings.
Ojo de Vidrio’s story led Sanchez into the realm of equine culture and the nuances of traditional portraiture. Paralleling the standards for which horses are bred, the artist became more and more interested in visually capturing the subtleties of how the animals stands, its muscle movement, the degree to which it holds up its head, or the way it faces the viewer— “all details and considerations that go into the composition of a life-size, fully depicted horse painting,” he says.
Sanchez was recently part of a two-person exhibition at Galerie Mokum, which featured his ballpoint pen drawings alongside friend and fellow artist Dina Brodsky. This September, he will present a solo booth of new work at Art on Paper in New York City, and his next major exhibition in the U.S. will be with Trimper Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut. See more on his website, and follow updates on Instagram.
“Flash 1,” oil on canvas, 24 x 30 inches
From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen
“Axle,” oil on canvas, 14 x 18 inches
From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen
“Chicago” (2023), oil on canvas, 6 x 8 feet
From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen
From “Herencia books,” color ballpoint pen
“Tiempo,” color ballpoint pen, 3.5 x 5 inches
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