Emily Guerrero and the Art of Ofrendas: Honoring Life Through Día de los Muertos
Most folks keep old, yellowed photos of their family's ancestors tucked away in a dusty photo album, but Fort Wayne artist Emily Guerrero proudly showcases her heritage all over the living room amid bright colors and rich textures.
Guerrero says, “It is about praying for people who you love and for guardianship around them, sending them the energy and the protection. But it's mostly about the celebration of life because these people who we love—family and friends—they come into our lives with their gifts and their talents and their happiness and their hardships, and they love and support one another. We celebrate who they were, and what they accomplished, and what they gave to us.”
Emily designs large scale tributes to the past through ofrendas—ornate displays of one's family heritage that weave historical photos and heirlooms with intricate and colorful artwork. It's a rich tradition that surrounds Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, an ancient practice from Mexico that Emily first learned from her grandmother when she was just a little girl.
Día de los Muertos Traditions Passed Through Generations
“Her ofrenda was right next to her bed, and it had the candles and it had pictures of family, and she had little saints and her rosary, and I would ask questions like, ‘what is the water for?’ She'd say, ‘the ancestors journey, far, they’re thirsty.’ ‘What is the salt for?’ ‘It's for purification.’ ‘What is the candle for?’ ‘To light the way,’ Guerrero remembers. “She always had ofrenda in her home. The pictures changed, the flowers changed, but it was always there.”
Guerrero states, “I'm so grateful to be a storyteller, carrying the stories and the traditions forward that my grandmother whispered to me as a little three year old girl when she was braiding my hair. That was my earliest memory ever of her and her home, and she was such an important part of my life.”
“Dia de Los Muertos is much more elaborate, and many more traditions happened here. But on the day-to-day, we do have candles lit, pictures of loved ones, flowers,” Guerrero explains. “Raising them up during times of grief. We give thanks for celebrations, new births, new babies. We light a candle to give thanks for life. The breath of life.”
Healing and Sharing Cultural Heritage Through Art and Education
Art has always been a part of Emily's life, but she spent much of her early career in the business world until a near-fatal car accident, which compelled her to embrace a full-time career as a folk artist and storyteller.
“I realized that my life was spared, and I made a promise that night that I would live with joy and love, that I would create art. I had to recreate myself. Art healed me. What gave me joy was creating art. And I quit thinking about the pain because I was creating. It helped me to heal,” says Guerrero.
Emily's ofrendas, which she often creates with her granddaughter, Avery, retrace her family's history back more than seven generations.
Guerrero says, “Life is a circle. There's a beginning: the breath of life. There's the end: the last breath. And indigenous people honor that. We know. We don't fear it. We teach our children the importance of the circle of life. And that we do have a beginning and end”
Today, Emily proudly shares these rich traditions through large public art displays, school group activities, and community festivals.
“I want all children to feel the celebration of their ancestors and the good traditions,” states Guerrero. “Everybody has something to bring forward, to give to the world and to share and celebrate with one another. It's an honor to come into a classroom or a museum and be a storyteller. For those who are wanting to hear and listen.”
“I can bring that to the classroom. It isn't a person telling my story. I get to tell my story. I feel like it's an obligation that I have to my family past, my family present, and my family future because I'm talking about seven generations out that I know are coming and someday will meet me through my story and my artwork,” Guerrero concludes.
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The above video is a clip from Journey Indiana from WTIU. You can watch more segments and full episodes at pbs.org/show/journey-indiana/
