Gullfoss, bronze

Emil Alzamora was born in Lima, Peru; lived in the United States and Spain growing up; and is now based in New York. The artist’s current practice is largely focused on the human figure, with Alzamora creating abstracted, surreal iterations of recognizable forms in two and three-dimensional media.

On the Royal Road 15, ceramic, gold overglaze

The artist’s approach to sculpture is fascinating. Some of the works remind me of pieces by Gosia or Antony Gormley in the way that they distort the human figure. In Alzamora’s work, the viewer’s eye is instantly drawn to the pieces for their realistic, recognizable approach to the human figure. But the longer one looks at these pieces, the more outlandish details start to come to the forefront, obscuring the once-certain image of the human form.

Alzamora’s metal sculptures, for example, take all the angles of the human figure and smooth them into an undulating, human-shaped mass, something that’s both instantly recognizable and totally alien. The artist’s busts take a more fragmentary approach, combining rough, raw-looking material elements with polished sculptural skill.

Oscillator, cement