MEET THE ARTISTS / CERAMICS
UNPAINTED RED
The ArtisTS
The Mateo Family
Macrina Mateo Martínez & Alberta Sánchez Mateo
Pueblo of San Marcos Tlapazola
Matamoros #18
barro.rojo@yahoo.com.mx
(From US) Landline: 011-52-951-574-4201
Cell: 011-52-951-329-1725
(In Oaxaca) Landline: 574-4201
Cell: 951-329-1725
Niece and aunt, Macrina and Alberta carry on the tradition of utilitarian burnished terracotta pottery that has existed in their family and community for many centuries. In their traditional farming pueblo, they have drawn upon pre-Colombian methods, while also introducing new forms and improved quality. Alberta and Macrina create pots for cooking, large bowls, platters for cooking tortillas, cups and saucers, plates and other items. Flecks of mica in these red-toned pieces give the lovely appearance of gold.
Carlos Vianney Cruz Ortiz
[Honorable mention, FOFA’S 2016 contest]
Pueblo of Santo Domingo Yanhuitlán (two hours outside of Oaxaca City)
Carretera Internacional s/n
(From US): Landline: 011-52-951-518-2400
Cell: 011-52-951-223-1195
(In Oaxaca): Landline: 518-2400
Cell: 951-223-1195
Carlos’s sculpture revives the legacy of ancient vessels that were made in his village in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. This ceramic art is now lost to its current inhabitants, but Carlos ties the past to the present by painting the ancient iconography unique to his village on the pots with engobes made from the community’s soil. The crouched central human figure gaze’s is pensive, as he analyzes both the vessels and the world that surrounds him, dreaming of what can be. Carlos began sculpting animals when he was ten. His dream is to reinvigorate his people’s clay art through sculpture, thereby inspiring the next generation.
Rebeca Velasco Hernández
[Honorable Mention in Ceramics, FOFA’s 2022 Contest]
Santa Marta #112, Santa Rosa, Oaxaca de Juárez 68274
Cell phone: (From US) 011-52-951-307-6805
(In Oaxaca) 951-307-6805
Landline: (From US) 011-52-951-522-9191
(In Oaxaca) 522-9191
Email: Rebeca_VeHz@outlook.es
Unlike many young Oaxacan artists, Rebeca did not learn her craft from her parents. Instead she discovered an interest in ceramics while looking for a way to take advantage of the COVID lockdown. On the internet she found RUFI, a studio just outside of Oaxaca City, of ceramicist Mateo Hernández Santiago whose artwork, approach to learning and reviews by other students impressed her. The creative life she developed since beginning to work with him in 2020 allows her to express her dreams and aspirations; this piece represents “an attempt to overcome the ‘venom’ of our insecurities that keeps us from assertively working to achieve our goals.”