Week 5 Ofelia Esparza

Ofelia Esparza's Altar in the Borders and Neighbors exhibition curated by Craft in America. Courtesy of Craft in America, photo by Madison Metro

What I loved the most about Ofelia Esparza was how genuine she was. She talked about growing up in East LA and how she still lived there and loved it. Her art was inspired by her family and the traditions her family helped pass onto her. When she was speaking about her involvement in the movie Coco as an adviser I began to see similarities between the altars she would make and the ones in the movie. I was like WOW, she did that! But also she let the creators of the movie know how to represent something that was culturally appropriate. When she talked about the 3 deaths in life you also see them in the movie. The way she expressed the importance of family and even her knowledge about her Mama Pola and how much of a strong woman she was reminded me of the great grandmother in Coco as well. 

I never grew up celebrating Dia de los Muertos, but my family did when they lived in Mexico. The way Ofelia spoke of how she kept the tradition alive made me wish my family had done the same. You can see how her art is influenced by family and strong women, and how she herself is such a strong woman because of the examples she has had in her life. I appreciated her presentation and loved seeing her get lost talking about her work.