Jacobo Alonso’s The Situated Body: Reconfiguring the Symbolic features large-scale fumage (well, soot) drawings and sculptural felt works that redefine the human form through contemporary materials. | Courtesy Jacobo Alonso
Mexican sculptor Jacobo Alonso has chosen some surprising materials from which to create his artwork. Felt, of course, is among the oldest and most pliable textiles that can be reconfigured into intriguing shapes.
But soot? Yes, he also uses carbon deposits that result from burning matter, which often causes ethereal and often unpredictable patterns on paper or canvas.
In 2025, Alonso participated in a residency program at the Maitland Art Center where he was inspired by the Mayan- and Aztec-influenced carvings done by the art center’s founder, Jules André Smith, back in 1937.
Upon his return to Mexico, the artist found that his creative energy had been sparked by his experience in the United States. The result is The Situated Body: Reconfiguring the Symbolic, which runs through April 4 at the magical, mystical center in Maitland.
It features large-scale fumage (well, soot) drawings and sculptural felt works that redefine the human form through contemporary materials. Of his work, Alonso says:
“Each body has its own geography and undergoes numerous inevitable mutations that reveal the genealogy of its image and form. It’s a territory inherent to the individual, tracing the constellation of their identity yet always appealing to an inherent instability.”
Although Alonso has a degree in computer science, programming made him crazy. So he transitioned into the world of art in 2010, enrolling in fine art classes at the university level. By 2014, he was showing his work at galleries and museums in the U.S. and Mexico.
Alonso’s process for creating fumage art begins with four large sheets of paper. He burns matter that leaves soot on the paper; then, using his body against it, he creates an image through contact with the soot-coated surface. Strands of his hair, the shape of his beard and even the pores of his skin appear.
For his felt works, Alonso feeds the pliable textile into a computerized cutting machine. He then painstakingly sews hundreds of layers of cut felt together using a suturing needle. In the process, he turns the pieces of broken felt into vibrant sculptural works that reference the movement of the human form.
The Maitland Art Center is located at 231 West Packwood Avenue, Maitland. For more information, call 407.529.2181 or visit artandhistory.org
