Oaxaca, Mexico. Dolores Porras. (Part 2)

What sets Dolores Porras work apart are the bold colors and unexpected imagery she chose over traditional designs. Plates, bowls, vases, and pots come to life with human faces, fish, cacti, flowers, iguanas, and mermaids—often painted in bas-relief. Dolores Porras transformed everyday utilitarian objects into true artistic chef-d’oeuvres. Her creations have been captivating audiences in Mexico and beyond.

Dolores and  her husband Alfredo had a close working relationship. She created the work, he fired and sold it. While working six days a week, she raised nine children. Dolores died in 2010. 

Innovating was very important to her. So was the transmission of ancestral knowledge and her savoir faire to her children. Today, they carry her legacy in her atelier where one of her sons and his family now live and create potteries. The atelier is located in Santa Maria Atzompa. The small town located is 20 minutes away from Oaxaca in a region known as the Valley Centrales. This is where one of her sons and his family now live and create potteries. 

Pottery, Reginald Rolando Parros (Dolores' son), spice bowl, 2015. Credit to Garland Magazine