We came early, on October 31, to avoid the crowds of Nov. 1 and 2. Friends came to help me decorate the graves. Beer, water, dead bread, chocolate and marigolds completed the decor and la offrendas. Then we used our extra marigold petals to decorate several other graves that seemed as though no one was going to remember them. Today there were a few dozen families decorating the graves of loved ones. Tomorrow it will be busy and on Nov. 2 even busier.
These are the pieces I’ll be showing at Jesus Lopez Vega’s “Dia de Muertos” Group Show at his studio gallery, Rio Zula #7 in Ajijic from 4-7 PM on November 2. (Rio Zula is the street one block west of Yves Restaurant and the street Casa Linda is on.)
Click on photos to enlarge size and read captions.
Since it looks like the captions are cut off in the enlarged versions of the photos, here is the complete description of the pieces:
Davey Jones’ Locker
Davy Jones’ Locker is a metaphor for the bottom
of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors
and shipwrecks. It is used as a euphemism
for drowning. Silver coins spilling from a pirate chest
seem to be doing these victims of shipwreck
at sea no good at all. Media includes sand and shells
collected from various Mexican beaches by the artist.
Day of the Dead in Mexico
Offerings to the dearly departed include my
miniaturized version of a real book:
Noche de Muertos Muestrario Poetico en Michoacan,
a volume of Day of the Dead poems.
Waiting for the day of the Dead
Father and Child skeletons wait
patiently for Dia de Muertos and
their yearly portion of “dead bread.”
Altar
This skeleton has already consumed
one loaf of dead bread and is
ready for his next one.
These are the artists in the show:
Poster art is by Antonio Lopez Vega.
Please join us there for art, music, refreshments and to meet the artists!
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 