Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475743
Por rio Gutierre https:por riogutierresuaresite por riopor riogutierrecom Summer I read an article called The Man Preserving Endangered Colours and was intrigued Seeing that he was located in entura I sched uled a studio visit oined by riend and colleague Betty Madden we trav eled to entura to meet Por rio Gutierre in September e introduced us to his world o contemporary art steeped in the culturalspiritual lie o his apotec ancestors is goal is to conserve preserve and innovate genera tions o knowledge and culture associated with creating color rom nature the way his ancestors did e explained his process o choosing plants cul tivated insects and transorming them into pigments e dyes the yarns by hand gently coaxing the color into each ber Por rio can tell when he has achieved his desired color by sight and touch The textiles are woven using variations on motis that connect to an ancestral way o lie Ironically the pandemic lockdown is what prompted Por rio El Maestro as he is known in his hometown to open a studio in Southern Caliornia nable to travel to his home and studio in the village o Teotitln del al le axaca Mexico he ound studio space in entura CA and started to work El Maestro Por rio expanded his vision o preserving and educating Por rio Gutierrez will discuss The se and Meaning o Color in Contemporar ndigenous Tetile Art, Saturda, August , , at am PST, via oom the people o axaca about the generational knowledge o color and natural dyes to include the large indigenous community in Southern Caliornia and the nited States We are ortunate to have him in our backyard Naturally derived colors are a welcomed conseuence o a deep relationship with nature Each color Maestro Por rio derives rom plants is a capsule o cultural and ecological knowledge The color is the physical presence o a captured moment in time and placehow the natural elements such as water sun land and soil worked together that year as well as the human cultural tradi tions that nurtured them The textiles hold and memorialie this imprint o climate and culture that is completely uniue to and at the mercy o this moment in time and space Por rio Gutierre a apotec native based in entura Caliornia has careully tended to his relationship with nature his entire lie coaxing over col ors rom plants Por rio Gutierre By ana 44 THE COSTUME DESIGNER | FALL 2022