Challenging rules and keeping art curious with multidisciplinary artist Allegra Pacheco - Friends of Friends / Freunde von Freunden (FvF)

I’m originally from Costa Rica, where I was born. My dad is Costa Rican and German,  and my mom is Cuban and Spanish. I’ve always had a mixed background and have been a traveler because of that. I left Costa Rica when I was around 19 and came to California briefly for university and to work on the environmental documentary film ‘The 11th Hour’ by Leonardo DiCaprio. I worked as an intern, doing tasks like bringing coffee and finding stock footage. It wasn’t a planned career move into the film industry, but it provided valuable experience for my own film, Salaryman.

I become interested in a specific subject matter, and then that will dictate the medium. I just get interested or obsessed with a subject, and I immerse myself in it. 

For example,  there’s also a boxing series that I’m working on that is quite immersive. It’s almost a chicken and egg scenario: I became interested in boxing because I was boxing, but I was also interested in boxing because I thought it was an interesting subject matter. I often lean into things that maybe I initially don’t understand, and then being an artist is my excuse to be able to get a deep dive into these subjects.

The world of contact fighting I thought was super interesting, because overall, in the history of humanity, we’ve had a long trajectory with games of all kinds and athleticism for many reasons—for proving our strength and then being more important members of the community or stealth or strategy. Athletes were in a sense honoring the gods or trying to be as close to the gods as possible. And sometimes in the modern world, it can seem like a black-and-white or clear-cut archetype, but it’s not. Sometimes people see it as, “Oh, boxing is so violent. Why would you want to paint something so violent?” But it’s not that violent at all. There’s so much camaraderie, you know? 

That’s something I absolutely prioritize, even though I’m someone who delves into quite serious subjects. I think I’m a bit of a silly, playful person at times. And I think especially when art becomes a little bit more institutionalized, either in a museum, a documentary, or a gallery setting, it can lose a lot of its playfulness, or that playfulness may not even be considered.

As with the landscapes I mentioned, I have tools for playing with color or working under a rigorous set of rules to see how I can make new iterations within that set of boundaries. The restrictions can sometimes allow me to not have to worry about what I’m going to paint—I can just have a narrow perimeter to work with that is liberating. And sometimes if I’m not inspired by one medium, I switch to another—I’ll go to ceramics to make somebody a present or something, or to make a new tea set for myself. I don’t just view my projects as my work; they’re my lifeline, they’re my therapy, my play, how I interact with the world.

I love collaboration. Art can be very solitary, and I also love being alone, but collaboration can make everything feel more dynamic. If you’re looking at something from your point of view, it may seem obvious or straightforward but someone else can show you a completely different perspective which can enhance your project. It’s important to be proven wrong sometimes, not stay in an echo chamber, and allow yourself to be humbled.

We live in such a complex world. It’s so full of beauty, and so full of conflict. There are so many different points of view and so many cultures coexisting. And that’s even just speaking on a human level. That’s before we even open ourselves up to the animal kingdom, to science, to all of the other things. How could you not be curious about everything, all the time? 

One paradigm shift I’ve had is how when I was younger I used to view creating art as having to be a constant struggle. A struggle to learn how to stand out from other people, to get noticed, and to appeal to many without being inauthentic or commercial. Finding your voice can be more difficult when you’re younger. More and more I’m finding that’s not the case anymore. I follow my intuition and I’m not afraid to fail. Some things evolve and grow into something more successful, and some projects naturally don’t. There’s less pressure from myself now, and it’s a playful, dynamic, exploratory approach. 

I mean, who knows? I would like to make more films. I think it would be fun to work on a shorter format—I don’t feel pressured into making features. There are some upcoming projects in the film realm; one has to do with some historical events in Costa Rica and the Caribbean, and the other revolves around muses and the mythology about them. 

Recently I’ve been in California, so I’ve been geographically quite apart from my family. My family has a long history of immigration, and living through many different situations and experiences, and I find myself thinking of my family getting older, and the importance of keeping their stories alive for future generations. Maybe I could curate a global archive, or even create a film around that—my grandparents, my parents, all of the extended family and their stories.