Honoring Dora De Larios
Photograph by: Bernard Judge
“The most rewarding part of my work is sharing it with others. I am grateful for my life. My job is and always has been to create joy and beauty. I thank The Creator for this priceless gift and for the energy to carry it out.”
Dora De Larios, one of the most celebrated Los Angeles-based artists has passed at age 84, leaving her legacy of works to the past as well as the future. Her creations ranged from the small and intimate, to the large and abstract. In her early days around the 1940s, she stated Mexico City to have been her greatest influence. Born to Mexican immigrants, she found herself swimming in the colors and textures of her heritage, which spirit became reimagined in clay. Her work was bolstered through the saturation of her culture and history.
Her career and passion for ceramics spanned over six decades - and during that time, she watched men in her field given a pedestal that she created for herself, pioneering her own creativity and paving the way for other female artists. Her work was loud and lavish, compared to the popular minimal and modernist art that was so well received at the time.
Though based in LA, she traveled throughout her life - including a 2 month stay in Japan. This deeply influenced her work as well. The Japanese approach to nature; gentle, wild, thorough, and nonchalant - further shaped who she was as an artist. Her curiosity began leaning more into the natural and spiritual, all at once refining the work and increasing detail.
Photo by: Jenni Kayne
Her dedication will continue to ripple, from those in her field of ceramics, to creative women wishing to span their sense of artistry, and to those wanting to discover more of their culture, witnessing the majesty of one willing to be so influenced by her own. As artists, and as women, it is endlessly important to express gratitude to those who have given their very existence to provide the opportunities and insights that we are now free to grow from.
Thank you, Dora.