Studio Visit: Luis Bermudez

Table Offering, 2004. Ceramic. 12 x 9 x 9 in.

The Offerings Series explores the snake as a cultural symbol of our time. These sculptures of snakes are interpretations of historical images of snakes and serpents.

Artist Statement

“I combined these images of snakes with porcelain bowl forms that are derived from the traditional molcajete, which is a mortar commonly used in Mexico for grinding. In this body of work, I am exploring the fusion of my cultural history with an ethnic symbol of everyday life. Although the snake started out as an interpretation of the past, it now raises questions about the future, about protection, about fear, about serious consequences and about offering. The bowl is in fact a symbol of history, as a utilitarian object, and now poses the question “What is being offered?””

Dangerous Offering, 2004. Ceramic. 11 x 20 x 9 ½ in.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Luis Bermudez (1953–2021) is known for his architectural sculpture and installations that merge experiences of landscape, memory, and pre-Columbian indigeneity. Over the course of a career spanning five decades, Bermudez created a body of work that fuses individual and cosmic scales with remarkable economy, innovated the discipline of ceramics through his advanced mold-making practice and development of a unique castable refractory, and influenced countless generations of artists as a curator and educator.

Bermudez’s work has been shown at the Everson Museum of Art, the American Museum of Ceramic Art, the Museum of Contemporary Crafts (today the Museum of Art and Design), and the Armory Center for the Arts, among many others. His work is held in the permanent collections of institutions including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Crocker Art Museum, the Scripps College Ceramic Collection, and the Long Beach Museum of Art.