As I continue to process the profound inspirations I found during my time in Oaxaca, I’d like to share one of my most exciting discoveries there: the art of Dolores Porras.

She lived her life in the Zapotec town of Santa María Atzompa, where she worked in clay from the age of 14 until her death in 2010. Though she began by creating within the traditional style specific to her town, towards the middle of her career she found her own voice and began experimenting and developing this in her work.

The resulting colors and unrestrained creativity are what make it so special and lively. Working with her husband, Alfredo Regino Ramírez, she developed a unique white glaze that made her polychrome glazes glow. Her colorful, sculptural motifs of mermaids, faces, iguanas, and insects, just a few, stand out strikingly from the traditional green ware that her Atzompa village is known for.

Alongside her remarkable career, she and Alfredo raised nine children, who are now preserving and continuing her work as Taller Dolores Porras.