Ale’s artwork begins with drawings that emphasize the topographical layers of a person. Those layers then come to life with carefully-constructed clippings of watercolor paper, and, sometimes, acrylic paint. Ale differentiates himself from other paper artists by using humans as his inspirations. With the human in mind, Ale’s, scissors and supply of double-sided tape give them arms, legs, mouths, and messages to share.

But, for him, stacks of paper and rolls of double-sided tape are more than art tools. In the studio, paper is easy to cut and accessible. In life, paper is often unnoticed and discarded, as are people. Ale wants to change that. “If we treated every single piece of paper as a piece of art, we’d have a lot of beautiful stuff. And this is something that I find that is connected to how we treat each other as people.” His artwork is the double-sided tape that brings people together and inspires social change.

Ale’s love for art lies in the medium’s freedom and limitless possibilities. He says, “I like the freedom of it. I like the idea that I get to create what I like.” Ale’s home studio is not an office, but a haven for connection and self-expression, where he works in collections and uses his pieces to support a larger idea or theme. His favorite piece is Melissa, a 2021 piece that features layers of paper with etched golden mirrors. Like the mirrors in the work, Melissa mirrors human growth, evolving from a 2015 drawing to a sensational, feminine statement.

Among all of Ale’s pieces is the overarching theme of tolerance. With topography as the focus, Ale hopes to share that topographies are living things, just as humans are. “I wouldn’t make a hole in a person,” he says, “Why do we do this to mountains or to natural spaces if we know that they are also living? Everything is alive, and we should respect the Earth. The main message for my art is tolerance: tolerance for the environment, tolerance for each one of us, tolerance toward our differences.”

Photographs by Francisco Rojas and Sergio Quirós