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Alfonso Begins his Artistic Career as a Painter

Alfonso grew up as a painter in San Juan Yaeé, a pueblo in the Sierra Norte some 5-6 hours from Oaxaca City. Currently 29 years old, he traveled alone at 15 to the Central Valleys surrounding Oaxaca City, feeling a “strong need to discover something new beyond the mountains…searching for other forms of expression.” Alfonso reflected, “I always wondered what would be beyond? Would there be something good for me?” Despite having moved far away from his pueblo of birth and not returned in many years, Alfonso maintains contact with his mother, sister and grandmother who occasionally visit him. Both his sister and mother attended the inauguration of the FOFA exhibition in February, 2023 in which Alfonso was honored.

Paintings by Alfonso

Up to the time of his move to the Central Valleys Alfonso relied upon painting to manage the emotional challenges of his childhood:

From the time I was a child I really liked drawing, so I started drawing and tried to improve every day. It made me feel good and was a way of escaping the bad memories of my childhood, drawing all the good things I wanted to see and feel. I took refuge in colors and began to paint as soon as I had access to acrylics. I still have a lot to learn but I’m very satisfied because I am honest with myself.

Nascent Career as Apprentice in Ceramics

Sign for Doña Rosa’s Workshop today

Ultimately Alfonso found employment in 2008 at the barro negro (black clay) workshop of Doña Rosa in San Bartolo Coyotepec. There -- more than four decades after her death in 1980 -- her descendants continue the work of the diminutive, but artistically powerful, ceramic artist who reputedly introduced the technique of achieving a sheen by rubbing the clay with quartz prior to firing. Alfonso started working with the daughter-in-law of the late Doña Rosa, highlighting details of the figurines. This came with ease right from the outset, as he enjoyed learning everything there was to know about black clay and eventually developed his own design elements. There he discovered a passionate "connection" with clay, telling himself, “I would be here until the day my heart fails and I die.”

Alfonso Begins to Work Independently

Alfonso working in his studio (photo by Otto Piron)

Nonetheless he began to work independently. The impetus for this was a sculptor friend who, impressed by Alfonso’s talent, communicated that he should have something of his own. Initially this idea frightened Alfonso who eventually summoned his courage and strength and began working on his own pieces in 2021.

Pieces not yet fired (photos by Otto Piron)

Fired Pieces (photos by Otto Piron)

Alfonso Firing his Pieces

Alfonso with some of his pieces

Contest Winner and Deep Thinker

It was at that time that he learned about the August, 2022 contest for young artists sponsored by FOFA and decided to participate. To his great surprise and delight he won first place in ceramics.

Alfonso is a deep, philosophical and sophisticated thinker. When one inquires about the significance of his pieces, one is in store for a treat. He is inspired by fantasies, including his dreams and his imaginative interpretations of memories or things he encounters in everyday life. As Alfonso puts it,



I really like fantasy. Everything that has to do with other realities, other places, greatly enriches my way of seeing things and makes my imagination soar.

Alfonso’s Winning Piece in the August, 2022 FOFA Young Artists’ Contest (photo by Otto Piron)

The ceramic sculpture for which Alfonso was awarded 1^st place in ceramics in August, 2022, serves as an example. He explained his interpretation of the contest theme -- “Finding Hope Through Art” – as follows:

The hands holding a pitcher express hopeful possibilities emerging from the most serious world problems. The girl who points to a dead figure finds hope in the new life that arises from it or things that adults sometimes consider finished. The two large figures or the two adults the girl informs of her discovery are surprised. They understand that sometimes death or the end of a cycle in our daily life is not the end, but rather the beginning of something completely unknown. At the same time, it is exciting to know the cat on the skull would be what I believe is a paradise. I have always thought that each of us has a place designated after Death. The cat on the skulls symbolizes that for me; I hope that it is already a place without harm for everyone.

Another little girl holds a jar that contains her most personal dreams, conveying that hopes are individual. Another girl sits looking at the horizon with her cat, covering it with her shawl, while crops grow for physical and spiritual food. This tiny and solitary figure of the work speaks of empathy and the purest love towards the weakest -- the most intimate love towards the most unprotected in the world.

The recognition Alfonso received from FOFA was reinforced by his success in the fall of 2023, when he participated in another contest in San Miguel de Allende in Guanajuato and won a national award, one of the highest honors, for best piece.

Presentation of Contest Award in San Miguel de Allende

Winning Piece and details in San Miguel de Allende Contest 2023

entitled “I Invite You to Play”

My idea for this piece began the day I was invited to participate in the competition of the popular Mexican toy in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato. As I thought about today’s toys, I realized that something was missing -- that magical feeling I had as a child playing with my sister. I had to go back in time to that moment of magic and innocence to see myself with my sister playing with clay pots, imagining all kinds of stories, seeing her pretending to cook or heat water in small clay pots. I could imagine myself making bread in the oven with mud and then starting to play baker, classic little meals, at the Casita, things so innocent that I hadn't experienced for a long time. I think that today with the advancement of technology and video games almost no one experiences those great moments of imagination which, as a craftsman, I have the joy of returning to every day, making up stories which is good for me -- an escape from the chaos of today.

Alfonso Learns English

Alfonso with his English tutor, Matthew Miller

Alfonso has been studying English with Matthew Miller – a retired American pulmonologist -- who has tutored him online since 2022 through FOFA’s tutoring program. Matthew, who recently visited Alfonso in his studio in Oaxaca, describes the experience as follows:

In early 2022, FOFA requested volunteers to teach ESL to selected FOFA artists. I was paired with Alfonso, probably because both our mutual language skills were intermediate. We began WhatsApp video calls and got to know each other as I tried to improve his already very good English. Pretty soon, though, it just became a weekly hour or so of an evolving friendship, telling each other stories about our lives. He’s incredibly engaging and interested in the world around him. His English kept getting better just through practice and a few tips as we went along. He spoke about his challenges coming from a small village growing up speaking Zapotec and trying to make it in a new place, where he is still considered an outsider, and may be experienced as a serious competitor. He spoke about his vision and ideas in creation of his art, and about the challenges of becoming known. 

He sells small pieces to local vendors for tourists and occasionally to buyers who see his successful work from competitions. They commission pieces and he has to figure out how to send them. He has finally been recognized by some art stores in Oaxaca, after winning the FOFA competition, and can sell on commission through them on occasion. But it’s a tough road.

Although our program was designed to last 4-6 months, we’re still meeting weekly after two years. We both look forward to our calls. I have had the good fortune to meet Alfonso at his apartment/studio twice during my visits to Oaxaca. I’ve watched him grow as an artist as he gains confidence. He has the technical and physical skills to create extraordinary work but it’s his remarkable imagination and creativity that make him a true artist. He has the potential, with a lot of luck and help from FOFA and other friends, to become a real success. I and everyone who meets Alfonso are rooting for him.

Alfonso is a quick and serious learner, whose English -- demonstrated at a recent lunch in Oaxaca with Matthew Miller, Amy Mulvihill and Arden Rothstein, among others -- is extraordinary. Like everything else he does, he excels.

Lunch with Alfonso in Oaxaca in February, 2024 with Matthew Miller, Amy Mulvihill and Arden Rothstein

Alfonso and Arden Rothstein in his Studio to Interview for this Newsletter

For those of you interested in learning more about Alfonso and his inspiring artwork, we provide his contact information:

Primera Privada de Galeana #11, San Bartolo Coyotepec 71294 (please note: this is a new address, different from the one that appears in the FOFA 2023 exhibition catalog in which Alfonso is featured)

Cell phone: (From US) 011-52-951-270-3336 (In Oaxaca) 951-270-3336

WhatsApp: 52-951-270-3336

Email: martinezméndezalfonso2@gmail.com

Facebook: Alfonso Martínez Méndez

Instagram: alf.mp88

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