Bryan Ali Sanchez with HereIn

Truck Bed, 2018-2019, oil on canvas, 64 x 80 in.

[Image description: A figure with light skin, a bald head, and a blue jacket that reads “POLICE ICE” stands in front of an orange truck bed, lifting the lid with his left hand. The truck bed is full of people, crouched together, some covering their heads.]

Bryan Ali Sanchez talks with HereIn about his latest body of work, a series of paintings depicting undocumented immigrants crossing the border between Mexico and the United States. These works capture the acute precarity and danger of border-crossing with a profound empathy. Their large scale lends them the air of canonical history paintings, firmly positioning the immigrant’s journey as deserving of attention and record. A selection of these works was recently exhibited in Sanchez’s solo exhibition, In Search Of, at Bread & Salt Gallery in San Diego.

HereIn: You were born and raised in San Diego— where in San Diego did you grow up? Has living in this particular environment shaped your work?

Bryan Ali Sanchez:  I grew up in Logan Heights (Barrio Logan). I haven’t moved much from San Diego. The only time I left was for two years to attend Cal State Long Beach, but I was commuting back down here on the weekends to work.

Growing up in San Diego has definitely shaped my work. Dealing with cultural assimilation of both American and Mexican cultures was and still is something I find difficult to understand. I remember as a kid I tagged along with my mom to Tijuana for medical reasons, as well as visiting family members in Queretaro, Mexico. That opened many avenues of thought. This constant pushback of temporarily belonging to one culture and then quickly adapting to the other is the result of being born in the United States. I’m able to cross freely.

Traveler, 2020, oil on canvas, 54 x 80 in.

[Image description: In the foreground is a figure with light skin, blue pants, a gray shirt, and a black backpack. He leans over a trough and plunges his face into its blue contents. Just behind the figure are three cows. One drinks from the trough alongside the figure. In the background are the edges of gray buildings and a blue sky.]

I find there are similarities between people who cross the border and me. I think they have this improvised notion and hope for the best outcome when crossing over. I share this same thought process when I approach a blank canvas. It’s a journey we both embark on and rely on our instinctive nature to get through. It’s a place we are not familiar with but will do what it takes to get there. I think about how people are able to make that commitment to the difficulties of the journey. Even just staying alive, because many times people don’t make it. I think there’s so much to unpack about the idea of border crossing.

2:48 AM, 2018-2020, oil on canvas, 58 x 72 in.

[Image description: A nighttime scene rendered in loose brushstrokes. A group of figures is illuminated by two police cars’ yellow, blue, and red lights. On the right side of the image, a figure is pressed up against a car while another figure pats down their legs. In the foreground of the painting, a figure is crouched on the ground, looking back toward the scene. Another figure in dark clothes looms over them, holding a gun.]

HereIn: Looking at images of your past work, I noticed that you have strong technical skills when it comes to drawing. Your work now, in oil, turns away from that precision of rendering toward loose brushstrokes that cohere into powerful images. How did that change in your practice occur?

Sanchez: I think early on I did not know I could draw in a technical way, but I knew it was attainable. Knowing this, it never really made sense to continue making the type of work I know I can make. I think being technical demonstrates an understanding of form. That’s all. In my opinion, the real work begins shortly after.

There are many factors involved when painting and personal convictions come into play when determining what an image should reveal. I’m always interested in making difficult paintings. I’m still constantly questioning what I’m making. It hasn’t been easy, but I think that’s the point, that I’m willing to engage with a piece that’s not so easy to make.

El Pollero, 2020, oil on canvas, 760 x 78 in.

[Image description: A dark green landscape with a yellow sky. A group of figures, all wearing dark clothes and backpacks, walk away from the viewer in a crouched position. The scene is rendered in very loose brushstrokes so that the figures seem to blend into the landscape.]

HereIn: How would you describe the fundamental content of your work?

Sanchez: I paint people engaging in this sort of optimistic outcome that they would like to perceive, and this confrontation with nature and the elements of them entering the country. I’m very interested in how I can paint the anxiety and the struggles involved, because there’s plenty of stoicism in Mexican culture. People go through great challenges and they don’t reveal the hardships. The trauma that they’ve experienced internally, I want to bring that out in the image— people going through the difficulties of crossing over. 

Climber, 2020, oil on canvas, 70 x 50 in.

[Image description: A nighttime scene of a group of people climbing over a wall made of vertical, copper-colored slats. The figures have brown skin and dark hair, and wear blue clothing. At the top of the wall, one figure holds two smaller figures as they swing their legs over. Another figure stands in front of the wall, reaching up to help the others come down.]

HereIn: Tell us about the process of making these paintings.

Sanchez: I start out with a quick thumbnail in the sketchbook, which is a gesture of a general idea. The sketch is nothing defined, just basic geometric shapes and scribbles. I pursue the idea of what size I want to work on given the scene I want to paint. Once I begin the painting, everything gains momentum. I begin painting the idea that’s in my head and try to figure out the spacing of the figures with quick brush marks, then begin to build the composition from what I am seeing. I block in large areas with paint and rethink where the figures will be placed. Throughout the painting I draw figures/objects in my sketchbook to bring into the painting, as well as taking photos of people to set the scene.

Sometimes I figure out the color scheme as I’m painting, thinking of the time of day I want to capture. Sometimes I have to look elsewhere. Either from the dioramas I build, or it could be the sunset, or how the sun hits certain terrains I am working on. I look for anything that can further the painting. If there is a color I am interested in, I try bringing it into the painting and change everything else. Seeing how previous color schemes interact with recently applied ones can result in improvising a new one. I won’t know unless I act upon the given situation. There are many doubts about whether the initial idea will continue to be developed due to new forms I am seeing. Lately I have been lucky that I have been able to stay focused and continue the initial idea until the end. I am aware of a painting feeling forced and at that point I must make the decision of putting the painting to the side, moving forward to a new painting, or painting over it. There’s definitely a battle of trying to search for the images I paint. It’s like a snowball effect. 

A diorama in Sanchez’s studio, 2020, digital photograph.

[Image description: A gray model of a figure standing in front of a container made from foam core and taped together. The model lifts the container’s lid with their left hand.]

HereIn: You’ve built fascinating dioramas as part of your process. Do you use them for most of your paintings?

Sanchez: I have lately. The use of dioramas was a gradual approach. I started when I bought a scale model truck for a painting titled Truck Bed. I used the truck and built a larger scale makeshift truck cut out from foam core for perspective. I continued using props/objects for a couple paintings after Truck Bed. I kept thinking of the painting 2:48 AM at that time and I knew I wanted to paint a night scene with headlights pointing towards the viewer. The unpredictability of law enforcement lights flashing, bouncing from surface to surface, and the thought of areas having blue, red or purple (from both colors intersecting) was the reason I committed to the diorama. I’m able to move the figures inside the diorama, isolate the lighting and play with perspective, as opposed to solving as I paint. So it’s an added tool. However, it doesn’t always work out when using the dioramas. Each painting is different. 

12:53 AM, 2020, oil on canvas, 78 x 64 in.

[Image description: A nighttime scene of a container truck. The truck’s back doors are open and a mass of people, all dressed in dark clothing, spill out. In the foreground on the right side of the painting, one figure, with brown skin and a handlebar mustache, runs toward the viewer.]

HereIn: You spoke earlier about capturing moments of anxiety. There are some works depicting violence or moments in which violence is about to happen. What is it like for you to paint these painful images?

Sanchez: For me, it’s revealing exactly what happens in the situations I’m painting. Trying to be as sincere as possible. By its nature, it’s overwhelming thinking of embarking on a journey where you increase the chances of death. Thinking of the culture here in America, you could go hiking and it’s a nice weekend trip. You enjoy the scenery and you get some exercise. It’s a leisure activity, as opposed to when you’re going through a mountainous terrain, or walking through the desert for days, or swimming through the river and having an end goal to make it to the other side. These scenic places are not viewed the same once survival is the objective. You only have one shot to make it. You must hope that everything goes well, because many times it will not. I’m trying to make a painting out of that: how one person decides to take on that challenge when the odds are against them. I start placing myself in those situations: what would I do? And I think of the many stories I’ve heard from people who are close to me and try to bring those to life in the painting. 

This interview has been edited by HereIn and the artist for length and clarity.