“Autonomy” is what Emil Alzamora calls his very first life sized bronze cast figure created in the late 1990’s. Was he trying to liberate himself from some personal or ancestral bondage when he defined this piece as a figure “pulling himself off the cross”? Seven years later, sitting in his raw, chilly but cozy studio in a field of nowhere, artist to artist, I’m surrounded by recent works – one of them with two heads, each trying to pull itself away from the other, and another smallish figure bound up in coils which emanate from the top of it’s head, another contortionist style bending back into itself, as if meeting itself for the first time. Did I want to run? If not, why not? Looking at entrapment, lack of freedom, and bondage, in the face, and personally challenged by this human predicament, I start to wonder about his “autonomy” and the conundrum of trading one freedom for another. Oh well. From the mountains of Peru, Emil Alzamora, the artist, unwittingly it appears, adorns his figures with questions, fears and dire prospects, while expressing a positive outlook for humanity. Well, I wasn’t prepared for real thinking so early in the day, so I lapsed into a barrage of questions about his family history, his (suspected) connection to Beacon, which ended up being geographical more than social. Polich Art Works Foundry in Newburgh, where he was previously employed, is a working destination for him, preferring to have hands on experience with his own bronze casting and finishing processes.
Sorry! I’m back. So here I am, climbing the irregular concrete steps to his hilltop home, greeted by Emil and an over excited dog. Perched along the railing of his front porch are several naively charming terracotta sculptures of houses – an ode to his childhood talent. Has anyone else ever been here, besides the dog, Emil and Annie, his partner? What pure Beauty! Flanked by the silent river and a proud Mount Beacon, my eyes scan rocks awaiting placement in a developing garden, magnificent sweeps of nature, carefully placed bronze sculptures and a pickup truck, unarguably poised to transport one of his works to it’s buyer. At the heart of this enclave sits Emil’s studio, a hideaway sort of space, where we chatted about memories of mountainous Peru, the Boca Grande Island of his formative years, travels throughout Europe and Morocco, and his current life in Cold Spring and, now, Beacon. Should he ever want to come home, which will it be? Does it matter? Is it the inner space of his mind to which he refers in a statement about his art: “The space between limitation and potential is as human as the flesh, yet hardly as tangible” There was, indeed, a palpable struggle going on in that studio, a tug of war between free choice and self censorship, between the emotions that rest with personal insight and condemnations of, let’s say, the church – ideas that matter to us all and are challenged by many, and to a broad community of listeners and arguers – of people puzzling their lives together.
Alzamora’s persistence to the exploration of both humanly friendly and less humanly friendly ideas, an impressive loyalty to craft, and a sensitivity to marketing his work have attracted patronage and with that success, a green light to focused dedication in his studio. He is represented by five galleries from Boston to Sarasota, to Maine, Sag Harbor and at Yellow Bird Gallery in Newburgh, NY . Upcoming is an installment of 3 bronze pieces at Pepsico, a sculpture park well worth the trip in Westchester County as well as a group show in Sarasota, Fla. Works can be viewed on his website: emilalzamora.com.
Judy Sigunick
October 9,2006
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