Visiting Artist Summer Series
Residency: July 3rd - July 6th
Lecture: Sunday, July 6th at 2:00pm in Theater

Brothers Einar and Jamex de la Torre consider themselves both American and Mexican. Born in Mexico to an American-Mexican mother and Mexican father, they spent the majority of their adolescence in California. As a result, the subject matter of their work is closely related to their unique voyage of self-discovery.

The de la Torre brothers include numerous references to pre-conquest Mexico, a culture they find as rich with source material as their own. They incorporate time-honored styles such as Mexican folk art and symbols of Catholicism as well as universal subjects such gender roles and cultural integration. As a result, viewers of their work are able to place one foot in the Worlds of Pre-Columbian Mexico while the other is planted firmly in contemporary society.

Short Bio

Mexican born artist-collaborator brothers, Einar and Jamex de la Torre came to the US in the early seventies, going from an all boys catholic school in the Guadalajara of the late sixties to (co-ed) public schools in a Southern California surf town. In the eighties, while studying sculpture and glass blowing in art school, they began a flame-worked glass figure business that ran until their art careers took over. Artistic collaboration started in the late eighties, from small mix media works, to Biennial installations in the late Nineties and later branching into Public Art. Currently, the brothers live and work on both sides of the San Diego-Baja California border, a binational life style that very much informs their work. Working and exhibiting extensively nationally as well as internationally, their work can be found in galleries, museum collections, museum catalogs, as well as in various public art installations.

Artist Statement

As artists we are very interested in the ‘craft’ or the manufacturing process. The act of ‘making’ reveals new possibilities not found in the design and concept stages. While we consider ourselves mix media artists, we have a strong affinity for the process and energy in the hot shop. The intensity of the hot glass process is a big contrast to the way we slowly finish the work in our mix media studio. In finishing work we strive for a balance or harmony in materials, texture and color, fitting the concept of the piece.

Purpose/project description

Having worked at the shop during our exhibit in 2005, we know the value of working in the fabulous shop and the outstanding team. We have worked with Gaffers before, but never with such a competent and emphatic crew. The shop is also the best setting we have had the fortune of working in. That said, we envision making new work with an added emphasis on scale and refinement. We know the limits of our own skills and even though we are always learning, we do not blow glass but 1 or 2 months a year. Working with a crew that has everyday experience working with each other and with different artists, is nothing less than ideal for mix media artists like us. We hope to continue work some series as well as new directions we have been planning.