AlfAlfA (aka Nicolás Sanchez) is a Venezuelan muralist, illustrator and tattoo artist based in Toronto. He has an immediately recognizable cross-contour drawing style, employing techniques used in vintage etchings and engravings. He considers himself to be a draftsman, and uses lines of varying thickness to create bold, detailed and striking images.

Ever since we discovered one of AlfAlfA’s murals in Toronto in 2021, we at Young W love AlfAlfA’s art. This is why Elena asked him to paint her portrait for Young W’s About page and Cate was so intrigued by his style that she got a tattoo featuring his art. But we were also curious to find out more about him, such as the origin of his name and the inspiration behind his work, which is why we’ve chosen AlfAlfA as the first artist to be featured in Young W’s “10 questions for…” interview series.

AlfAlfA at work

(Photo credit: AlfAlfA, aka Nicolás Sanchez.)

Cate: Hi, Nicolás. Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions. How did you come to choose the name AlfAlfA?

Nicolás: AlfAlfA was the result of many hours of thought and reflection – the name came together after finding three meanings colliding. Originally, it means to be the Alpha-Alpha, in opposition to Alpha-Omega – Alfa. Alfa is the inspirational process that has no end, it’s an eternal beginning.

Also, there is alfalfa seed: a sprout, a seed, an idea that roots – alfalfa is a symbol of growth and bloom. AlfAlfA is a “coded” 37: I’m interested in numerology and 37 is my personal number. The 3 capital As, located at the beginning, middle and end of the word make the 3, and the total letters of the word is the 7.

Cate: Your signature drawing style is based on vintage etching and engraving techniques. What inspired you to use this technique for your murals and tattoos?

Nicolás: I became obsessed with this kind of rendering style when I was a kid. I noticed it on the bills [money], and what fascinated me the most then, and still now, is how it can create the illusion of grayscale with just black lines on a white surface. It’s the most economic yet eye-catching wonder I can think of. There is an important amount of illusion and perceptual calculation going on in the fact of perceiving volume using only lines; this kept me drawing a lot and thinking about it for years, always using pen, ink and lines on paper, black lines on white surface.

Later, I studied engraving at the University of the Arts in Caracas, where I finally experienced the engraving. After some years, I found myself extremely interested in the urban canvas and I thought how nice would it be to have massive engravings in the walls of cities. Then I started painting – and that’s been my life and passion for the last 15 years.

Cate: What tools do you use in your work (e.g., pencil, paint, etc.)? What is your process?

Nicolás: I use rollers to prime and for whitening. And brushes to do the linework.

An unexpected surprise: an AlfAlfA mural in a hidden spot on Toronto’s King St. W.

Cate: Your human-animal hybrid creatures are so magical and fun – and reflect a sense of humour, as well as social and environmental consciousness. What drew you to create these mythical beings?

Nicolás: My fascination for hybrid creatures comes from a very early age, since I’ve been 7 or 8 years old. I’m interested in mythology and discovered the delirious world of Bosch at that time. It’s been a fascination that is still with me today. Symbolism and history are too – so, my murals are based on this interest of representing life through mythological creatures that are more like symbols that can be read on different levels.

The sense of humour is just a personal addition – I think it’s very necessary to survive.

Cate: You mentioned during our tattoo session that the murals came first, and the tattoos came after. What made you decide to branch out into tattooing?

Nicolás: The pandemic times, also some sense of tiredness about being on the scaffolding 24/7 – so, many reasons came together. Now, I’ll be painting more murals again – I’m kind of missing that part of my practice.

Cate: Your tattoo flash has a lot of cool medieval images. Do you remember the first time you saw such images – and what you thought about them at the time?

Nicolás: As I mentioned earlier, those images entered into my imagination at the age of 6 or 7. My mom is an artist and my dad was too, so there was a lot of visual culture and information at home when I was growing up.

My mother, she had a stained glass atelier at that time, so the fascination for medieval art started there. I have always thought that medieval art has a perfect balance between innocence, creativity, absurdity and authenticity – and it also has a very dark sense of humor that I love.

Cate: When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Nicolás: An artist (laughs).

Elena with squirrel: portrait by AlfAlfA

Cate: What’s your favourite spot on earth?

Nicolás: The top of the dunes in Valizas Beach, Rocha, Uruguay.

Cate: What do you feel passionate about that you think is underrated?

Nicolás: Vegetarian cooking.

Cate: If you could transform into any one of your human-animal hybrid creations, which would it be?

Nicolás: In that case, I would definitely design a personal one for [myself].

Thanks for the conversation, Nicolás!

Get in touch with AlfAlfA & follow his work:

• Check out his art.
• Check out his tattoos.
• Together with partner Valentina, AlfAlfA forms an artist duo. Their artist collective is called The Dreamers.
• Want to commission AlfAlfA? Get in touch with him via email at alfalfa.murals@gmail.com. He is always open for projects.
• AlfAlfA in the Young W directory.