Today we’d like to introduce you to Isabella Sanchez.
Hi Isabella, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Isabella Sanchez is an emerging artist and current Master of Fine Arts (MFA) candidate at the University of Minnesota. She earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the University of Kansas in 2023, with a minor in Art History. Her work has been exhibited in a range of venues, including the St. Louis Art Museum (2017–2019), as well as local galleries such as the University of Kansas Memorial Union Gallery, the Kansas City Artist Coalition (2023), and the Art Grind (2024).
Currently, her practice is centered on textile arts and making, with a focus on experimentation and the expansion of her creative voice. As she continues her graduate studies, she is actively seeking opportunities for exhibitions, collaborations, and community-based projects to deepen her engagement with the field and further establish her presence as an artist.
Alternative: My journey started in St. Louis, Missouri. A city I feel deeply connected to and a place that keeps me continuously connected to the Midwest. I was born to a multiracial family and lived with my mother and two siblings until she was diagnosed with cancer and later passed away in 2018. I now find it hard to distill so much time into words, like most people probably would. My journey has been defined by my time with my mother and the time after. It is hard to say but time has moved both quickly and slowly as I grow into a person now forever holding this loss in my bones. I have used my practice to allow me to unfold and resew my grief. During my time in Lawrence, Kansas I discovered my love for quilting and natural dyeing. Since I was introduced to the infinite possibilities that quilts allow I have continued to learn and deepen my love for this art form. I am currently living and experiencing Minneapolis, Minnesota. Now pursuing an MFA at the University of Minnesota, I have been allowed to meet artists and professionals who have uplifted my work and allowed me to develop and change in ways that I am excited to see.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Of course, there have been obstacles and challenges. Recently I suffered from a life-changing injury that resulted in the loss of part of my fingers and the function of my right hand. While working as a printer, my hand was caught in a letterpress machine that had been modified with a motor. I was 22 when this happened and it shifted how I saw my body. Before, and still to this day, I have struggled with depression and the ability to love the body that I have. After this, it was as if losing a part of me allowed me to see the possibilities and endless power that my body possessed. Saying this doesn’t mean that all my problems disappeared, but I still think that it deeply changed my capacity to love myself. It was an injury that happened while I was doing something I loved, printing. It was on a machine I still deeply regard. Such a heavy, powerful machine that I once only saw as a tool, now holds a space in my timeline and forever changed my body. It was also an obstacle that allowed me to reconnect with my father as well. Looking back it is one of the worst moments in my life, but also the catalyst for so many positives that have forever changed the way I see myself. It’s funny how the universe works like that.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work currently is based around a practice of foraging local plants and growing natural dye plants. These plants I then dry, and cook down to create natural dye baths that I then use to dye the fabric I use in my textile work. I have described my works as narrative or story quilts, but currently, they are in a transition state. My once square flat quilts are now becoming alien shapes that suspend from the air or can be laid on in nature. I still see myself as an emerging artist who is still new to both traditions of quilting and natural dying. I have cultivated a dye garden in Kansas and hope to continue this communal practice of growing.
Alternative: A textile vessel that is passed down through time, preserving memories. The process is an essential ritual that I have created as part of my history. Dye is a recipe, a pot of history, and a language to speak together. Manipulating, cutting, and transforming the fabric is an act of outward change that reflects the soul. Quilting is words I speak with my hands. I speak to my mother. To parts of my heart that are far away. To my Chinese and Filipino culture, to the stories that have died out through my bloodline.
Through this ritual of creating, a physical space is made for these words and memories. To purposely freeze a moment in time, repeat it, relive it again and again. Has allowed me to see how my grief is part of my bones. It is not positive nor negative, it is an event that changed me. A loss of a body part, my other half buried in the ground. Now reborn in color, blood, thread, and fiber.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I have found as an emerging artist that people in the field are often very generous if you are willing to ask for what you need. This has been a struggle for me, to advocate for what I need, but if not me then who. While I was studying at the University of Kansas getting my undergrad, I noticed that we were given access to professionals and artists with such immense knowledge but outside of class people were not pursuing anything further. Asking for what I need and for what I think will benefit my practice has allowed me to meet amazing people who have given me guidance that has allowed me to be where I am now. No one has gotten to where they are without the help of others, and often I could not ask for what I need that held me back. But once I was able to get over myself, genuinely listened and worked. Then I discovered that people would help me open doors I did not think I could even have access to.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bb.izzys/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/isabella-sanchez-15a059355/
