Allegra Pacheco
Costa Rican artist, Allegra Pacheco, works in various mediums from painting and ceramics to photography and documentary film. In her new series, Blood Sugar, she portrays her most recent obsession: the world of fighting, with an emphasis on boxing and MMA (mixed martial arts).
Her paintings start with scouting fight videos, where she takes screen captures that she uses to create an initial sketch. "Observing a fight is important to me, you learn a lot, each person has their own style, and seeing the decisions that fighters make in real time is fascinating." Allegra uses explicit and exaggerated motion blur effects to capture the essence of a sport that is all about movement, instead of creating static portraits. This effect also brings about an ethereal, almost mystical environment that evokes images of Olympic fighters, gladiators, ancient archetypes, and even biblical characters.
Her digital investigations - sometimes recompositions of existing photographs, other times screen captures of iconic moments in fighting history- serve as inspiration for her works in oil.
“Oil painting is a technique with a lot of cultural baggage. In this series I explicitly wanted to use oil to exalt the mythical character of the fighters, as effigies or gods”. The format, especially the emphasis on small sizes, is also incidental. She highlights the cultural practice of collecting portable images of iconic characters, from religious to sports album postcards.
The use of color, from pinks and pastels, typically "feminine", decontextualizes the myth of masculinity within this sport and hints at the world of female fighters, which is currently growing exponentially. In addition, these tones also evoke the softer, more vulnerable side and welcoming of the world of fighting: a version of this world that people outside of this type of sport do not know.
"A big part of the beauty of fighting sports is the community that it forms. The help you get from your coaches, the support from your friends who show you your mistakes and constructively correct you to improve your technique. The community within this sport transgresses demographic barriers of all kinds, from gender, social and age or other body images barriers" mentions Allegra.
In addition to paintings, the artist has also produced video, edible art, and ceramic vessels and sculpture that employ the iconography of boxing and MMA. Her ceramics, in particular, speak to the profound commonality between “craft” and combat - both of which serve to transcend mortality. “Through fame, reputation, or the creation of enduring objects and legacies, individuals throughout history have sought to leave a mark on the world that outlasts their physical existence. Moreover, the flow state experienced in both craftsmanship and the art of fighting can elevate us beyond our humanity, momentarily breaking the bonds of time.”
Click here for a short interview with the artist.
Allegra Pacheco (1986, Costa Rica) is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and internationally recognized multi-disciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide. She received her BFA in Photography at School of Visual Arts, New York, and an MFA in Visual Art from Wimbledon College of Art, University of Arts of London.
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