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The Mexican tradition of Day of the Dead, the holiday that honors loved ones who have passed, is by now internationally renowned. <\/p>\n
The 2017 Pixar animated film Coco \u2014 inspired by the holiday \u2014 is available in nearly 50 languages. The calavera, a skull that\u2019s a common symbol for Day of the Dead, can be found on all sorts of products including T-shirts and bags. But for most of the holiday\u2019s history, it was not well-known outside of Mexico or the Mexican communities abroad that continued to celebrate it.<\/p>\n
Day of the Dead started to emerge in popular culture in the 1970s during the Chicano movement and one artist who was critical in that transformation was Ofelia Esparza. Today, Esparza is 93 and on Oct. 18, the Vincent Price Museum in East L.A. will exhibit her first solo show “Ofelia Esparza: A Retrospective.”<\/p>\n
93 year old altar maker gets her first solo exhibition<\/p>\n
Esparza\u2019s early life in East LA<\/p>\n
Ofelia Esparza lived many lives before she became L.A.\u2019s preeminent altarista. She was born in East L.A. in 1932, the first generation daughter of a family from Huan\u00edmaro, Guanajuato. Her family was so steeped in the traditions and customs of her parents\u2019 home town that Esparza was often confused about where she actually lived.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u200aI used to ask my mother, \u2018Estamos en Mexico? Are we in Mexico?\u2019\u201d Esparza said. <\/p>\n
Her mother, seeing that she liked to draw, encouraged her artistic inclinations, <\/p>\n
\u201cMy mother started saving the meat wrappings \u2014 the butcher paper. She would cut out the edges and iron them,” Esparza said. “So that was my paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every year her family created ofrendas \u2014 altars covered in marigolds, found objects and photos of loved ones who have passed to honor the dead \u2014 during Day of the Dead, as well as elaborate nacimientos, or nativity scenes during Christmas time. Esparza was surrounded by folk art and was encouraged to nurture her creativity but did not imagine a career in the arts.<\/p>\n
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Ofelia Esparza\u2019s altar \u201cRaices Cosmicas\u201d includes aspects of indigenous religion. For Esparza, the jaguar in the altar represents the \u201clord of the night\u201d and acts as a protector in Mayan mythology. <\/p>\n
She went on to have nine children with her husband Amado. After, she started a career as a teacher at City Terrace Elementary School.<\/p>\n