Arlyn Sanchez

Arlyn Jiménez Sánchez, known as Buloya, occupies a space of flux. Born in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic on December 10, 1977, Arlyn practices metalwork as both artist and fabricator. The artist has shaped New Orleans since moving to the city in 2009, creating custom metalwork, repairing century’s old ironwork, and fabricating work for some of the region’s most prominent artists. His hand can be seen all over the city, beloved by the artist for its cultural similarities to the Caribbean. A special ability to uncover hidden potential marks Arlyn’s practice as an artist. Raised by his mother to be resourceful and make do with what is available, he delights in breathing new life into discarded material. His work plays with this notion of transformation: Arlyn uses a plasma cutter to dismantle and repurpose salvaged metalwork and cleans the material by sanding and using chemicals to strip away oxidization. “Like new,” the artist observes with a smile.

Watching the artist work, you can see that his process serves a cathartic purpose—he approaches his pieces with intense focus as he hammers, twists, burns, and manipulates the material until the work transforms into something entirely new. In 2014, Arlyn almost lost the use of his left hand after an accident with a grinder caused severe nerve damage, a terrifying prospect for someone who has obsessively honed his craft since the age of fourteen and relies on his dexterity for both his livelihood and self-expression. A noticeable scar from the surgery remains on his wrist, a lasting reminder of how close the artist came to losing his practice. In his most recent work, Arlyn uses a gentle touch. The material retains the marks of its history, including the original welds. In a sense, the artist takes a collaborative approach, creating his compositions by combining, taking apart, and re-cutting the material with the plasma cutter while respecting the character of the metal. In the artist’s words, he talks with his work, playing until he feels comfortable. The resulting work explores the transformative possibility of life while at the same time acknowledging that metal, cities, and people carry their history with them through periods of instability, change, and rebirth. Reflective of an artist transformed by his own experience, Arlyn re-creates imperfect material into a dynamic and refined series of sculpture.