Join Porfirio Gutiérrez, a Zapotec American master dyer and artist based in Ventura, California, as he examines a rich history of Zapotec weaving legacy and ancestral knowledge of natural dyeing. He will discuss ways in which the seasonal cycles of nature impact the availability of materials while creating works that reflect on the experiences of migration and indigeneity in contemporary art.
This event is part of PST ART San Diego and La Jolla Regional Weekend. Presented by Getty, PST ART Weekend makes it easy to explore the diversity of exhibitions and programming that make up Art & Science Collide. Interactive, collaborative events are presented by Mingei, the San Diego Museum of Art, La Jolla Historical Society, UCSD's Mandeville Art Gallery and more.
Porfirio Gutiérrez is a California-based Zapotec American textile artist and natural dyer, born and raised in the richly historic Zapotec textile community of Teotitlán del Valle in Oaxaca, Mexico. He grew up immersed in color, surrounded by the wildness of Oaxaca's mountains, and with the knowledge of plants for healing and natural dye. His life’s work has been revitalizing and preserving traditional Zapotec natural dye techniques with a focus on reinterpreting traditional textiles and materials.
The story of his art has been told in The New York Times, PBS, and the BBC World Service, London. Gutíerrez has been featured in Vogue Magazine and the Smithsonian’s American Indian Magazine. In 2015, he received the Smithsonian Institution’s Artist in Leadership fellowship award. His work is in the collection of the Museo Nacional de Culturas Populares, Fomento Cultural Banamex, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American Indian. A selection of Gutiérrez dye materials was also documented and added to Harvard Art Museums’ Forbes Pigment Collection, the world-renowned archive of artist materials.