Handbuilt Fired and Painted Pottery – Sirenas

Handbuilt Fired and Painted Pottery – Sirenas

Ceramics

by José Juan Aguilar

Ht. 13″ x W. 10″ x D. 5″

The Aguilar Sisters have been well-known ceramic folk artists for many decades, working in Ocotlán, a village near Oaxaca, and now their sons work in the tradition. José Juan Aguilar creates pieces in a wide range of subject matter, some of it deeply magical, even spiritual, some of it humorous, but all of it exquisitely crafted and painted in a gorgeous palette distinctive to José Juan. His work is a good example that it’s possible to own a masterpiece of art for several hundred dollars or less. If the work were a painting, it would be thousands of dollars. Folk art is highly undervalued, but the upside is that it is easy to own and easy for craftspeople to sell so that they can support their families. José Juan’s work is innovative, exquisitely crafted, and painted with an appealing muted palette.

Duality is a common theme in Mexican Folk Art: sun and moon; male and female; life and death; day and night. The mermaid is common because she represents land and sea, so the whole universe.