Homo-Barro

I first started using clay in Oaxaca, Mexico in 2007.  As an abundant and humble material, clay has no intrinsic form, so in practice it can take any shape the artist is capable of making.

I was particularly moved by the use of clay in Mexico and Colombia in its most raw, artisanal ways, such as simple hand-made pots, I found in local markets (plazas de mercados), or hand-made tejas produced in rudimentary Chircales in Boyaca.

Several years ago, when I began this work, setting up at the Chircal presented itself as a liberating experience far away from my regular New York studio work and any art world expectations or demands. I was stimulated by the environment of the production, beginning with the raw material that I used and stood upon, the interactions with the workers who animated our work environment with their jokes and the vallenato music played on an old crackling radio in the background.