BARRO_WHO IS TALLER COATLICUE?

COATLICUE

In Atzompa, the artisanal production of clay pieces, the creation of tableware and decorative clay pieces, is traditional and very old.

Coatlicue Workshop in Santa María Atzompa, Oaxaca, is a great example of how a workshop can adapt this traditional technique to pieces for our use today, without losing its essence and pre-Hispanic influence.

The Martínez Alarzón family works with the technicians of their ancestors and celebrates their culture by creating pieces as a tribute to their grandparents.

Ana María Alarzón, Ana Martínez and Adrián's mother, began working with clay when she was 12 years old. She met her husband, Tino Martínez, when he came to install a kiln at his father's house when he was 18. Today, her husband continues to build kilns to Ana María's liking, changing them when they take up too much space. Tino explains that to make a good kiln, it must be well compacted and have no holes, because if there are, the fire escapes. When it's finished, he has to flatten it to completely cover all the clay.

The pottery-making process includes fire, water, and the call of Atl-Tlachinolli, which is the sacred part of the transformation of change and union. Adrián Alarzón explains in a video made byNomad Cook that: “In the kiln, you see this transformation. After the pottery is in the sun, drops of water are lost, and then comes the fire. The pottery had water and then fire, and there are the elements and duality.”

The Martínez Alarzón family connects with the ceramic material because they handcraft it directly from the mine, and the whole family goes together. Their worldview is dualistic. There's a mine where they go together: "where the woman is, the feminine part, and this mine gives the other white clay, which is very soft, has a malleable consistency, and you can make anything from small to very large pieces. There's another mine where the mine is white, and it represents man."

“Both have to blend and unite to create a creation. This belief is duality. That women and men are both equally important, and they see it in the power of their creations, and they see it in the ceramics and the two types of clay we use.”

You can see the differences between the work of each family member; each has their own style but uses the same clay-firing process. Ana Martínez is famous for her little faces. Adrián plays with pre-Hispanic figures and natural elements like cacao. Meanwhile, Ana María works with beautiful spots and lighter colors in her pieces.

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