Burro Mezcladero

George Rodriguez with Christie Tirado

Mezcla; a mixture of elements, a merging, an articulation, a conversation.

This piece is the result of an aesthetic conversation between the volumes of the clay itself, and my own interpretation of geographies that capture and express my printing style. In this sense, the articulation of systematicities has given rise to something larger than a creative technique per se; a mezcla of aesthetic identities that goes beyond the relief of el barro and printing. A Burro Mezcladero is a mix of printing and clay and the unexpected properties of a collaboration.

My use of the word mezcladero is a playful one. It hints to the burros mezcaleros (mezcal donkeys) that are still used in parts of Oaxaca, Mexico, to grind and mix the agave plants responsible for the production of mezcal - a distilled spirit. The agave representation that emerged at the neck of this donkey, evokes this ancestral relation agave-burro (as the grinder of the spirits, I like to think). I am nonetheless modifying the word mezcalero (mezcal-related) to mezcla-dero to emphasize its capacity to mix, to merge; in this case, two different, yet complementary aesthetic, technical and conceptual working horizons - a common ground in the recurring grounding of different crafts.

Here’s to more mixed worlds, to more co-created realities, to more dialogues. Salud!

— Christie Tirado

Burro Mezcladero is available as part of the set of 12 pieces that comprise El Zodíaco Familiar. For more information please contact us at (206) 622-2833 or seattle@fosterwhite.com