Colmados and Consciousness: A Conversation with Contemporary Artist Tiffany Alfonseca
Alfonseca, Tiffany. 100%. 2023, acrylic paint, rhinestones, and colored pencils on stretched canvas. Courtesy of Artist.
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Double-consciousness. Blackness. Collective memory. Grace. These are just a few themes explored in the works of Dominican-American contemporary artist Tiffany Alfonseca. Although she lived in the Gunhill section of the Bronx as a child, Alfonseca came of age in Upper Manhattan’s Inwood and Washington Heights, one of the few remaining, vibrant, immigrant neighborhoods in a gentrifying Nueva Yol. Growing up with her mother and sisters in a Dominican household full of plants and bright colors, Alfonseca cultivated her artistic skill by attending Fashion Industries High School and the School of Visual Arts.
A mixed-media contemporary artist, Alfonseca creates vivid, large-scale artworks that celebrate Black and Afro Latino diasporic cultures. Continuously inspired by her Afro Dominican roots, Alfonseca alchemizes her experiences as a framework to further explore identity, Blackness, and nostalgia. Through her artistic practice, Alfonseca aims to visually articulate that “the Black and Afro-Latinx diaspora does not exist within a monolith”, rather, “these communities are a cultural cornucopia that is vast, varied, and complex.”
Whether through acrylic paint on stretched canvas or graphite on paper, Alfonseca’s work explores her community and the experiences that so many across geographical borders share, from ritual to rights of passage, trips to the beach to perreos en la sala, watching mami cook to having her wash your hair. For these conversations, Alfonseca has participated in countless group shows and has exhibited near and far, including at the Jenkins Johnson Gallery, Calderón Gallery, and Wallach Art Gallery in New York City, The Mistake Room and UTA Artist Space in Los Angeles, California, and Gallery 1957, Unit London, and Taymour Grahne Projects in London, England. We spoke with Alfonseca about legacy, taking up space in the art world, identity, and race.
Tiffany Alfonseca in her studio.
What does it mean to be a Dominican artist from the Bronx and Washington Heights? How do these communities find themselves in your art?
It’s interesting because Washington Heights and the Bronx play a big role in who I am today. I was born Uptown, but lived in the Bronx for sometime because that’s where my mother was placed for Section 8 at the time. But my life experience/upbringing was in Washington heights/Uptown. All my friends and pre school - middle school hang outs and memories were in The Heights, because my mom had a business on Inwood 207th Street. That’s where we would spend all our time. So, once I became more independent, I moved to The Heights. Both the Bronx and The Heights play a big role in my work because in both these communities there’s a big population of Dominicans, Dominican/Americans, “Dominicanyol” which is what my work is centered on. I tend to capture moments of nostalgia, community, culture, and lived experiences, in this case it being the Dominicanyol experience.
When did you realize that you were meant to pursue art?
I realized art was my calling very early on in life, I was about 3 years old…me and that crayon box went together real bad! Art is just something I never stopped creating since I started creating. It’s just in my nature. Surprisingly my family took my love for art extremely well and always backed me up on it. I was always enrolled in anything art related. My mom would always brag about me being an artist.; even until this day, she tells everybody, “Mi hija es una artista famosa”, which always makes me laugh.
Alfonseca, Tiffany. Romi. 2021, acrylic paint, charcoal, stickers, and glitter on stretched canvas. Courtesy of Artist.
A woman sitting outside of a colmado, people getting their hair done, a couple partying. Many of your pieces depict typical scenes in Dominican life, whether on the island, or in the diaspora. How does your culture find its way into your art? How do you navigate your identity through your art?
My culture is very prevalent in my work. These are the moments in which I capture by either taking photos, using old family photos, or asking friends to pose for me. So that way the culture is displayed in not only my experience, but the lived experiences of others with the same cultural background. In terms of identity, the saying “Ni aquí ni de allá” resonates so hard with me which is why I depict the moments I do. My work is like a mix of people from the island and people born here in the States with Dominican roots. Always going back to DR every summer since I was a baby, and even living in DR for sometime a couple years ago, made me always feel closer/connected to my cultural identity. So, I identify as Dominican American/Dominicanyol but the way that I look says otherwise since I’m so light-skinned, which is why my art shows a variety of different complexions: to educate people on how I identify myself, and how others in the Dominican diaspora identify themselves, too.
Across your art pieces, Black bodies take center stage. For you, what's the significance of centering Black life in your work?
Growing up, I’d never seen Afro-Latino representation in the art world, and that is something that always intrigued me. Giving that platform and highlighting others that haven’t been depicted yet before. It’s important to keep that conversation going and not erase it by just placing all Black bodies in the same category. The Black experience varies because of the culture. There might be a lot of similarities but also a lot of differences, for example, the Black American experience vs. the AfroLatino experience. Distinguishing the differences is pretty crucial in the art world. Also, making sure that Black life is depicted in a softer, loving, joyful light instead of always being shown in acts of violence, as it has been shown throughout history.
Alfonseca, Tiffany. Ya me acostumbre. 2023, graphite on paper. Courtesy of Artist.
In 2020, graphite lent itself as a tool for you to document life during quarantine, inspiring you to create your “In Quarantine Series”. What was that process like?
My “In quarantine series” is one of my favorite projects I have worked on to this day! I was actually working on my SVA thesis project; at the time, and given the state of the world, I was very limited in material use/space. I decided to step back into my drawing roots and held an open call on Instagram and asked people to pose for me. I would ask them where they would find themselves mostly during quarantine, set up a self-timer using their phones, then submit the photo to me. I also made sure to keep the drawings at a square dimension of 20x20 inches so it can be showcased best on social media. Social media played a big role in this project because: 1) most of my models I met were from there, and 2) social media has taken over the world (sadly), and now the majority of the time social media is the best place for presentation. That was the only form of presentation I had at the time because I didn’t have access to my studio anymore. I feel like it was a very relevant approach, so the whole process played a major role in the drawings themselves.
What did that period teach you about yourself as an artist?
To make the best with what I have and not limit myself because of restrictions. I feel like during that time, I really pushed myself out of my comfort zone and it made me want to explore many different art forms. COVID-19 taught me as an artist some of my greatest strengths, in this case, the graphite drawings which I had swept under the rug for so many years because I decided to make painting my main focus. And for that, I am so grateful.
Alfonseca, Tiffany. El Amor Que Me Pediste. 2023, graphite on paper. Courtesy of Artist.
When looking at clothing adorned by your subjects or the backgrounds in their respected rooms or apartments, all of your works pay attention to detail. A piece that speaks to this is "Natalie, You have a special way of making the world a better place. Love you, Dad."
I thought that piece was super important to depict because unfortunately, oftentimes in Black/Brown communities there’s a lot of strained relationships with fathers or they may not even be in the picture. A lot of people I know grew up in single mother homes and that was sadly the norm. In this case, Natalie’s father wrote her that sweet note. To me, it showed the importance of a father-daughter relationship, and more so, that those type of relationships in fact do exist in Black and Brown communities.
Using both mediums of acrylic paint and graphite, what do these mediums allow you to convey that the other doesn’t? How do you choose what you're going to draw v.s. paint?
Both mediums allow me to convey my muse but in somewhat a different way. I feel like the graphite makes the work look more traditional or old master vibes, whereas my paintings are so vibrant and flat it gives off a playful feeling. In that way the work is different, but the message remains the same. Perhaps the joyfulness of the colorful patterns, texture, or foliage is something that I can’t capture with graphite. I think when I make my drawings I want them to be direct and straight to the point so I choose to depict things you can imagine without color/texture but make sure to still give it that essence. Whereas the paintings actually depict the textures/colors that can’t be presented in the drawings.
Alfonseca, Tiffany. Esta noche me la paso perriando. 2021, acrylic paint, colored pencils, and glitter on stretched canvas. Courtesy of Artist.
Over the past few years, more galleries have showcased art by Afro Latino and New York artists. What does it mean to be part of this vanguard of Dominican visual artists?
It’s truly an honor to work alongside both Mónica Hernández and Raelis Vásquez, they’re amazing artists and are making very important work. They were actually two of the first young Dominican artists I found out about when I was in my first year of college via Instagram. It’s a privilege to be a part of that circle/conversation and for me that means everything I’m doing with my practice is going in the right direction. All of us share the same cultural background but all the work is so different which is amazing because it opens up different conversations and categories of what we want to talk about within the culture.
Whether standing in front of your pieces or viewing them online, what do you hope audiences take away when engaging in your art?
A sense of relatability. Having that moment where the viewer just stands back and can be like “Wow, I remember that time when I was in that setting” or “Omg, I have a prima that looks just like that!”. Those are the moments I live for!
Alfonseca, Tiffany. Día de playa sin espaguetis. 2021, acrylic paint, colored pencils, charcoal, and glitter on stretched canvas. Courtesy of Artist.