Artist Statement:

My work pulls from a mix of influences including pre-Hispanic forms, 19th-century Mexican printmakers, my culture, skateboarding, family, and food. I look to pre-Hispanic ceramics as a way to stay connected to my ancestors and to highlight a part of history that’s often misunderstood. I’m also inspired by printmakers like José Guadalupe Posada and Manuel Manilla, whose imagery helped inform a largely illiterate public and even played a role in the Mexican Revolution.

The skeleton imagery in my work comes from that tradition, but also from my own relationship with death. In Mexican culture, death is recognized, joked with, and embraced. I’ve dealt with my own anxiety around death, and making this work has been a way to ground myself in those Mexican ideals and share them with others.

Being Mexican American shapes everything I make. Food and family are huge values in that experience, and they show up in the forms I create. My pieces carry history, but they’re also rooted in the everyday moments, meals, and stories that make up life now.

Biography:

Andrew Rivera holds a BFA in Ceramics and Sculpture from the University of Minnesota-Duluth and completed the MN NICE certificate program at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Graphic and Web Design at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Rivera has completed a long-term residency at The Clay Studio of Missoula and works out of his studio in downtown Hastings, MN, while teaching ceramics in the Twin Cities area.

Drawing inspiration from function, history, design, and culture, his work reflects on personal identity and his Mexican heritage. Rivera’s pieces explore the intersection of tradition and contemporary practice, creating objects that are both meaningful and visually engaging. He currently resides in Hastings, MN.