For Mexican Catholics, altares or home altars are installations consisting of artifacts, mementos, photographs, prefabricated objects, flowers, santos, and candles to create a sacred place either within a home or on public display for special feast days of the church. Ofelia Esparza, who has lived in East Los Angeles her entire life, explains, "My altars stem from the legacy left to me from beyond three generations of women-from my mother to my great-great mother." She will be guiding one of her daughters, Elena Esparza, in the artistic and spiritual principles of altar building so that the family legacy will continue. During the apprenticeship they will focus on altars for specific holidays: ofrendas for Day of the Dead (November 1) and nacimientos (nativity scenes) for Christmas.
|
| Ofelia Esparza and her daughter Elena pose before an ofrenda they built at the Mexican Museum in San Francisco in the fall of 2000. |
|
With Elena's assistance, Ofelia built an altar honoring Sister Karen Bocalerro, founder of Self Help Graphics in East Los Angeles. San Jose Mexican Heritage Plaza, January to March, 2000.
Photos courtesy of Ophelia Esparza
|
 |
In 2001 for Day of the Dead at Self Help Graphics, Ofelia recreated a prison cell in a corner of the gallery. She intended the entire installation to represent "grief for the living dead"--those who are in jail, their loved ones, and others around the world who lead lives that are unfulfilled, tragic, or lack freedom. At the foot of the bed she assembled a small traditional ofrenda made from materials that would be available to prisoners: papel picado made from newspapers, paper flowers of toilet paper, small offerings of pictures and flowers. Thus she celebrated a universal human condition in a truly traditional Mexican manner.
Photo by Mary MacGregor-Villarreal
|
|
Ofelia and Elena assembled this nacimiento for Christmas 2001 at Plaza de la Raza in East Los Angeles. The wooden figures, which are from Oaxaca, are each over a foot tall. The entire installation fills a niche that is approximately 7 feet high by 8 feet wide and 5 feet deep.
Photo by M. MacGregor-Villarreal |
top
