Aydé Ramírez Cedillo

San Jerónimo Silacayoapilla, Oaxaca, México

Aydé Ramírez Cedillo is a ceramic artisan from San Jerónimo Silacayoapilla, Oaxaca.  She is one of five ceramists remaining in her small village which has been abandoned by other artists for lack of interested customers willing to pay a reasonable price for their priceless, time-consuming ceramic art. Aydé has struggled for years to get the respect she deserves for her exquisite designs, beautiful coloration and skillful burnishing techniques. Her goal has always been to represent her family and her village with her work and to be accorded the dignity she deserves for the quality of art she offers. Only recently has she been recognized as a worthy ceramic artist whose work warrants exhibition. She has shown her work in Oaxaca, her home state; Puerto Vallarta; Mexico City; Paris, France; and Dallas, Texas, among other places.

In every piece by Aydé there is not only a link to her Mixtec culture, but also an added contemporary dimension. The successful blending of these two disparate themes is unusual, but in the case of Aydé, all her ceramic art has depth of color, interesting color combinations, unusual shapes and textures and, importantly, an unparalleled mastery of burnishing that results in a soft appealing shine.