Hello, welcome back to another blog post!
In anticipation of our upcoming relaunch in 2024, I thought I’d tell you about one of our inspiration starting points for this new collection – let me reiterate 'starting points'– even the research for a collection can take many twists and turns, and we're ending up with something quite different, but the origins are fundamental.
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(Click on highlighted words for links to extra info!)
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So, let's take a look at on of our early inspirations– Eduardo Terrazas...
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Eduardo Terrazas (born 1936, Guadalajara, Mexico)– is a Mexican contemporary artist who knows no bounds with colour, shape and composition– was the perfect starting point to get me into the spirit!
Surprisingly, I only discovered Terrazas’s work in 2018, despite him being one of the godfathers of modern Mexican art and the designer of the iconic 1968 Mexico Olympics graphics. Luckily, I stumbled across a small exhibition of his at El Eco (a great gallery in a space designed by legendary architect Luis Barragán) near my then apartment and was so struck by his use of colour and adoption of artisan techniques with wax and yarn by the indigenous Huichol people of eastern Mexico.
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Below: Selection of close-ups of Terraza's 'Cosmos' series exhibited at Museo de Bellas Artes, Mexico City, August 2023.
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He spoke my language. What was seemingly minimal and simple, actually contained so much process, handcraft, history, heritage and meaning to an almost spiritual level. Aptly titled Cosmos, it was part of an on-going series since 1978 which explores our (human) connection with the universe and the infinite possibilities of structures expressed through bold, broken and/or intercepted stripes, squares, triangles and circles. It’s the essence of Mexico through the most contemporary of lenses.
Terrazas is now 87 and still going fairly strong. As recent as 2019 he was commissioned by Dior for a series of bag designs inspired by Cosmos and recently he was able to witness his wonderfully curated retrospective at the Museo de Bellas Artes in Mexico City centre. I was lucky to go, and I left with a skip in my step!
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Above: Traditional Huichol Yarn Art, state of Nayarit.
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Above: Indigenous Huichol male in traditional attire, state of Nayarit.
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So, whilst Terrazas has been a big influence (and I think will always be) for me, don’t expect to see literal interpretations… he’s been a jumping board, but I’m yet to take the full dive into his use of colour. However, as Rose Moreno gets back its stride, do expect that to change! You want that Mexican feeling right?
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