Wright Auction

Eduardo Sarabia is a first-generation American born to Mexican parents. He grew up in a Mexican neighborhood in Los Angeles and eventually, as an adult, moved to Mexico where he married a Mexican woman. His life and work, therefore, is heavily influenced by both American and Mexican culture and their respective cultures and subcultures, as well as the often fraught relationship between the two countries. In a 2013 interview he explained the inspiration behind his thought-provoking ceramic works:

“[My] ceramics are based on typical talavera designs, which are traditional Mexican patterns that are used for pottery. Talavera designs are just something that’s embedded in Mexican culture and typical of Mexican households. When I first started working with this, I was really involved in researching this other side of Mexican culture, and the way that drug-war imagery had become such a deeply embedded piece of that culture. People in Mexico shy away from it. They don’t really mention it, but it’s so present, such a part of daily life. Often, it's just the economics of the drug trade that are really evident. I wanted to make something that represented that. I always describe the ceramics as being something my grandma or my mom could like and easily understand, and something they could relate to by having those old ceramic plates hanging on their wall, but with these more contemporary Mexican images.”

For the entirety of Alex Greenberger's 2013 interview with the artist, please visit Artspace.