Meet William Alonso | Plastic artist and art historian

We had the good fortune of connecting with William Alonso and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi William, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I would like to share my experience not only as a professional artist but also from my studio as an art historian. I consider that these are two elements that allow me to have a background to speak about the capacity for risk that has characterized human beings, but especially artists, regardless of the discipline or languages ​​that have determined their work, their style and their purposes versus creation.

The mere fact of making the decision to dedicate oneself to art already shows, in the individual who assumes it, an initiative that implies an attitude of risk. By not having any type of social, economic, and much less spiritual guarantee, in the face of his work, he must assume all the blows that his decision will require throughout his life.
I understand that in any profession to which each person wants to dedicate himself, there may be countless uncertainties about the projection, expectations, and objectives that his profession may set. But in the case of the artist, the risk is greater to the extent that our work is not a vital priority for human beings, we do not provide a fundamental service and the products we create do not apparently have a practical use.
In addition to the above, there are artists who in life could never enter the art circuit and in many cases their value and recognition were received long after their disappearance. Artists who were misunderstood, undervalued and even forgotten; that in the best of cases they were discovered decades after his death, since many of them were totally forgotten. The history of art is full of examples.
But paradoxically, it is precisely this risk that makes being an artist worthwhile. Because it requires from the individual an ability to face the unexpected, which requires not only a bold conviction but also an excessive passion, charged with a state of foolishness that, as Erasmus of Rotterdam himself would say “Madness is the origin of the feats of all heroes . “It requires a high degree of madness from those who assume it.
All this accompanied by judgment, rigor and discipline motivated by the inexhaustible desire to engage in a dialogue with the other from the aesthetics, therefore his interpretation of his world will always be charged with sensitivity, mastery and creativity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am a plastic artist dedicated especially to abstract painting, my work is very committed to my Latin American roots and its problems. Color, transparency, overlapping are emblems of my work. sacred geometry, numerology and symmetry are responsible for giving the composition to my work and the mystical animal is the theme that frames my plot purpose But not only painting is my passion, I have training in theater, in-depth studies on puppets and theater of objects, a subject that attracts me a lot and also a cartoonist, I consider that this amalgam of disciplines and languages ​​have enriched me a lot as a committed artist and one hundred percent dedicated. cent to art assuming all the risks that this implies thanks to the fuel of passion and love for art that recharges me day by day.
Also, my continuous work as an arts teacher has made my profession a commendable and generous job where I have shared every knowledge and experience, receiving from my students also a generous learning for me. We would love to know what sets you apart from others, what makes you most proud or excited.
That is why I would like to share with you that the secret of my achievements has always been passion, I love art with all the strength of my life and this feeling is what has pushed me to carry out all the purposes that I have proposed, this same passion It gives me the desire I need to learn, to know, to explore. That is why my studies on theatre, puppets, caricature have provided me with tools that complement my work as a painter and have taught me that the best way to overcome obstacles is to be prepared not only emotionally but also intellectually, an artist must be in continuous learning and inexhaustible study. Learning from other artists and other genres, such as cinema, for which I have a deep fondness and great admiration.
As a lesson that my artistic work has left me so far is that in reality there is no final goal, the work of the artist is continuous, I already mentioned continuous study and training, learning and deepening.
Our goal as an artist is to achieve mastery, total mastery of language and technique, and this is only possible with continuous work and constant study.
Perhaps for this reason I would like the world to know that it is through work that all doubts are dispelled, work has the answers to our big questions and work is what is going to supply us with all the dissatisfactions and emptiness that we have.
Great works of art have only been possible by great human beings who have committed themselves to their work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well I know I’m not going to be very popular because when we talk about Florida we would generally think of the beach with a good party and good food. But if I had to take a friend to a place that was unforgettable, I would love to take him to the Miami History Museum. Its collections, its events, its curatorship and the space in general become a must-see for a cultural plan. The museum has several permanent exhibition halls, other itinerant exhibitions, auditoriums and collections of which one must be proud not only for the treasures found there but also for the way in which they are arranged and extolled.
https://www.historymiami.org/

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
It is important to mention all the teachers, tutors, colleagues and friends who during the course of my training, not only as a plastic artist but also in theater, puppetry and caricature, enriched my profession by contributing not only their knowledge but also by spreading their passion and discipline. . I would not like to name them since I am sure I would leave many of them out and I consider that it would not be fair. But I would like to emphasize my gratitude to each one of them. As for my professional projection and promotion of my work, nothing would be possible without the selfless work of my sister Gloria Alonso, who has assumed the role of manager and promoter of my work, without her help I would not be where I am today.
Thank you

Website: @aquiropoeta

Instagram: @aquiropoeta

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aquiropoeta/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Hieronimusbosco/featured

Image Credits
William Alonso Aquiropoeta Acrylic on Canvas 2022