María José Sanchez’s Work: A Self Bound to the Past.

How do we recognize the passage of time? Is it through visible layers of ridges and scars—hints of an always already present past, traces of a life lived? Perhaps our past’s pastness is always bound to our present, and the question becomes, do we exist in time, or does time exist through us?

Art, Time and the Self

How do we recognize the passage of time? Is it through visible layers of ridges and scars—hints of an always already present past, traces of a life lived? Perhaps our past’s pastness is always bound to our present, and the question becomes, do we exist in time, or does time exist through us? This interrogation seems to underlie María José Sánchez’s work, which constantly challenges our perception of time. Instead of viewing it as a transient, linear process, Sánchez proposes time accumulates and expands, changing who we are and how we act. She considers it changes our way of being and relating to the world around us, essentially altering our perception of reality.

In her most recent series, A través de la memoria—meaning “through memory” in Spanish—Sánchez invites her viewers to reflect on what they mean when they say “I am,” that is, who they imagine that “I” to be. She conceives this “I” as a subject whose existence is defined by its past, encompassed by subtle proofs of memories that cumulate, fundamentally conditioning it.

The series has been exhibited in different spaces throughout the past year, with its most recent edition having taken place last summer, in Bogotá, Colombia. It consists of an installation of large-scale, slightly see-through paintings that propose our memories turn into veils that we carry with us, becoming layers of identity and experience that dictate who we are at any given moment. Through a palimpsest of represented recollections, Sanchez “unveils” herself to her viewers, encouraging them to undertake a self-analytic journey towards understanding how their own past shapes their present.

María José Sánchez is an artist, teacher, and cultural manager. Her work has been exhibited in Bogotá, Florida, Vancouver, Tokyo, and New York City. We encourage you to browse her work available on Catalysta right away!