Teotitlán del Valle, Oaxaca, México 2024.
“A family that has been weaving for more than five generations.”
Josefina Ruíz is a Zapotec weaver artisan. We carried out a residency in her workshop, where her entire family is involved, and in addition to weaving, they dye the fiber from scratch. This exploration begins by learning about the different processes that take place in the workshop.
Weaving has been preserved and adapted to more contemporary formats. Josefina, her husband Javier, and their children remain connected to the craft of weaving in every part of the process. In the workshop and its gardens, they cultivate cochineal, Marush leaves, and Cempazuchil flowers, among others, which allow them to dye fibers in various shades.
The clay pot (olla in spanish) plays a key role in the workshop. It enables the fermentation of plants for dyeing, retaining thermal properties with its wooden lid, allowing fibers to be dyed in any season, regardless of the time of year.
The colors and the plants that generate them are unique to this community that practices weaving. Through this piece, we wanted to represent one of the most significant elements for the workshop in the process: the clay pot, made in the same area where they work. The pot is used to ferment and process the dyes that give rise to the colors. The pot is present in every piece that is woven.
OLLA consists of a double-woven piece that forms the shape of the pot in the middle. These sections can work together or separately. The colors used for the piece come from natural dyes such as cochineal, marush, pomegranate, indigo, among others. The central texture is a finish developed by the artisans through their daily experimentation. We wanted to add this signature element to the piece to honor their process.
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