Peruvian artist Blas Isasi was the 2024-25 Henry L. and Natalie E. Freund Teaching Fellow at the WashU Sam Fox School. A collaboration between the Sam Fox School and the Saint Louis Art Museum, the fellowship is comprised of teaching a course in the school’s College of Art and producing work for a solo exhibition at the museum. Isasi shared insight into his work, his upcoming exhibition in St. Louis, and the course he taught during his time at the Sam Fox School.
What work were you focused on during your residency in St. Louis?
I’ve been working for several years on a project called “The weight of a gaze (is to listen to the sound of a kilogram),” which is a series of sculptures that use sand as a way to connect to the Peruvian desert. For me, that landscape is an entry point into Andean cosmology, which I’m exploring as a means to gain better understanding of the present time through alternative perspectives.
I call the sculptures “sandstones.” In the past I’ve used Styrofoam as a base, but in this iteration, I used wood. That material was not only more eco-friendly but also allowed me to push myself further in terms of what I can do or make. Wood can be shaped into slimmer structures that will still hold weight in a way Styrofoam can’t.
I always try to incorporate new materials to keep things interesting. Most recently, I’ve started working with bone — I found a vendor on Etsy who provides bones ethically sourced from wild animals found dead in the forests of California — and putting together chimeric creatures. With this work and material, I’m trying to bring into conversation an embodiment practice that is specific to ancient Andean traditions.