Born 1994, Juan López López is a young Tseltal artisan born in the community of Amatenango del Valle, in the state of Chiapas in the bosom of a family of traditional potters, he is known as Pedro Lopez. He is a link between the traditional Mayan cosmological world and the modern one.

When he was 10 years old, he returned from school and watched his mother, Agustina Lopez and his grandmother Carmen Leon, working with clay, making cooking pots and traditional water jars, an activity that has always been only for women. Still, few men are dedicated to pottery in the community. Initially he played with the clay, making small pieces while listening to the advice of her mother and grandmother. People appreciated his works which improved over time.

At present, with more than 18 years of experience, he makes extraordinary works of art with clay, such as jaguars, pots with jaguars, the latter in very varied sizes, and also makes doves, flowerpots, iguanas, pichanchas and many other figures, decorating each one of them with minerals from the region, rescuing the natural pigments of his people. His technique and dedication to his work is much admired in Chiapas and beyond.

Juan continuously seeks to improve his pieces and that led him to manage the smokeless wood oven at the national school of ceramics, thus starting a small, growing group of artisans and craftsmen who are his pottery community.

His current work is focused on the rescue of ancestral techniques of his people in designs, and in the handling of clay. Juan is also giving training courses to young people, boys and girls of his community, in order to share his knowledge, which will contribute to the preservation of this important craft work and the proper use of the smokeless wood oven. 

AWARDS

• First place in the 2021 state contest of handicrafts Fr Bartolomé de las casas, institute of crafts of the state of Chiapas, in the category of new designs 
• Second place in the XVI national contest of pottery Tonallan 2021, in the state of Jalisco
• State youth award 2022of the state of Chiapas in artistic expressions and popular arts.

ARTIST INFORMATION:

casas sin nombre Amatenango del Valle, Chiapas           

Whatsapp    992 102 2892                  

tsoontajallopezlopez@gmail.com      

Facebook  Juan Pedro Lopez

Instagram  Amatenango-jpedro