LAURIE ZUCKERMAN DIA DE LOS MUERTOS OFRENDAS CEMETERY PHOTOGRAPHY FROM OAXACA AND GUANAJUATO, MEXICO

Diá de los Muertos tapete from the San Miguel Panteon, Oaxaca, Mexico

Diá de los Muertos tapete from the San Miguel Panteon, Oaxaca, Mexico

Diá de los Muertos tapete in shop courtyard, Oaxaca, Mexico

Diá de los Muertos tapete on the Alcala of Oaxaca, Mexico

Diá de los Muertos papier maché skulls in Guanajuato, Mexico marketplace

Diá de los Muertos ofrenda (altar) in Oaxaca, Mexico courtyard

Laurie Zuckerman's photographs of Mexican Diá de los Muertos ofrendas (Day of the Dead altars), tapetes, and marketplaces are now on view at Laurie's Flickr photo website. My photos were taken on several photography trips to San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, and Oaxaca, Mexico between 2005-2009. I hope you enjoy this colorful photo gallery of my favorite Mexican holiday. Please email me if you are interested in purchasing or using any these copyrighted images.

Please click on this link to view more of Laurie's images of ofrendas, tapetes, and marketplaces in Colonial Mexico:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/iconarte/sets/72157625817456347/

San Miguel Panteon Cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico

San Miguel Panteon Cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico on the Day of the Dead

San Miguel Panteon Cemetery in Oaxaca, Mexico on the Day of the Dead

Please click on this link to view more of Laurie's images of cemeteries during the Day of the Dead celebrations in Oaxaca, Mexico:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/iconarte/sets/72157625950939576/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN: CEMETERY NICHO SHRINE PHOTOS FROM NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO

Colorado cemetery nicho with Santo Nino de Atocha

New Mexico cemetery nicho detail with crucifix

New Mexico cemetery nicho with Holy Family statue

New Mexico cemetery nicho with Infant of Prague

New Mexico cemetery nicho with the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Colorado cemetery Madonna in what looks like a phone booth nicho!

Colorado cemetery plastic Madonna nicho

Laurie Zuckerman hunts for nicho shrines to photograph in old Hispanic cemeteries in New Mexico and Colorado. They are hard to find!!! A few of my photos of newer handmade nichos will be shared in this post, so check back daily. Photographing through the dusty plexiglass of this southern Colorado nicho, I was able to capture the hazy image of this Santo Nino de Atocha statue in the first photo. The next two photos are from a small cemetery outside of Las Vegas, New Mexico. Thanks to cloth flowers and a plexiglass cover, this nicho stands a chance of surviving longer in the harsh climate of northern New Mexico. The fourth photo is from a nicho outside of Albuquerque. I love the cool blue colors reflected in the ice on the glass. The Sacred Heart of Jesus is from the Taos region of northern New Mexico. Way down in southern Colorado I discovered this phone booth-like nicho that perfectly fits and matches the Madonna it contains. The last shot is a tacky little plastic nicho that actually been improved by time and age.

You might be interested in more great spiritual images and writings at Rebecca Brooks' website that this post is lined with:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN: THE 619 WESTERN STUDIO BUILDING IN SEATTLE WILL BE SAVED?

LATEST UPDATE Feb. 2, 2011: Seattle's 619 Western Building will be saved from the wrecking ball afterall. Read the article below.

http://crosscut.com/2011/01/27/alaskan-way-viaduct/20584/How-619-Western-escaped-tunnel-planners--wrecking-ball/

Jan. 24, 2011 Laurie Zuckerman's former art studio in Seattle's historic 619 Western Building on the waterfront is in danger of being demolished, to make way for the removal of the Viaduct. Friends in Seattle sent me this news and I feel like I am about to lose an old friend. I painted in my fourth floor studio for nearly nine years. I held open studios and art parties with my studio partner, artist Jana Rekosh. Jana and I built the 840 square-foot-space back in 1993 with help from an architect. The best thing about 619 Western was the abundance of wonderful artists filling the six-floor building. In particular, I remember fondly the late Drake Deknatel, one of the best painters in the Northwest. Losing 619 Western will be a huge loss to the art community in Seattle. I hope this building can be saved. Read more about the controversy in this Crosscut article:

http://crosscut.com/2011/01/11/urban/20534/State-moves-toward-demolishing-historic-artists--building/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S SPIRITUAL PHOTOGRAPHY OF NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO CEMETERIES

New Mexico cemetery plastic archangel

Colorado cemetery Jesus, life-size

Colorado cemetery crucifixion, life-size

Colorado cemetery Mary at the base of above crucifixion

New Mexico cemetery on the High Road to Taos

New Mexico cemetery on the Low Road to Taos, life-size

New Mexico cemetery on the Low Road to Taos, life-size

New Mexico cemetery on the High Road to Taos

Southern Colorado cemetery Jesus and Mary "Pieta" statue

Southern Colorado cemetery Jesus and Mary "Pieta" statue

New Mexico Navajo Reservation cemetery 

New Mexico Navajo Reservation cemetery 

Laurie Zuckerman's frequent travels to remote cemeteries in the Southwest are occasionally rewarded with a rare spiritual photographic image, rather than merely a photo document. I plan to share a few of my favorite spiritual images, as I sort years of photography into publication-worthy folders. Watch for more iconic shots over the next few days. 

The first photo of the archangel is one where the chance elements of time, weather, and even vandalism have altered the monument maker's vision to produce something  more poignant than his/her original artistic conception. The silhouetted crucifix against the setting sun is the perfect iconic image. The fireball sky is true to my experience of these life-size statues in the Aguilar cemetery, in Southern Colorado. My favorite roads to travel and photograph in New Mexico are the High Road and the Low Road, both leading from Espanola to Taos. They wind through small Hispanic villages and pueblos, past historic camposantos and mission churches. The shredded flag on the Navajo Reservation in northwestern New Mexico is typical of these high-desert cemeteries with their extremes of wind and sun and neglect. Veterans are frequently honored with flags.

This spiritual photo series is also linked to Rebecca Brooks' Recuerda Mi Corazon's blog hosting her series called "Stumbling Toward Ecstasy." Rebecca and I invite you to log on to her site:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S PERSONAL HOME ALTAR TO HER FATHER GEORGE ZUCKERMAN, 1996

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "My Father's Altar" 1996-2011

Laurie Beth Zuckerman's "My Father's Altar" 1996-2011

Laurie Zuckerman shares her home altar dedicated to her father George Zuckerman, who passed away in 1996. This altar has been developing for more than fourteen years. This is the state it was in during my exhibit at the Loveland Museum in the fall of 2009, here in Northern Colorado. I am sharing this image so that my viewers can see the entire context for my current blog title image, a closeup of the top of this cabinet. My father's personal papers, books, letters, and a few belongings are stored inside this cabinet. I refer to it as a library altar. The altar lives permanently in my bedroom when it is not on display. Please feel free to ask questions or make comments about this home altar.

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S MEMORY BOX SHRINES HONOR HER PARENTS, BLANCHE KLEID ZUCKERMAN AND GEORGE ZUCKERMAN

Laurie Zuckerman's Memory Box, "Good Luck, Blanche" front

Laurie Zuckerman's Memory Box, "Good Luck, Blanche" back

Laurie Zuckerman's Memory Box, "Good Luck, Blanche" coffin

Laurie Zuckerman's interest in collecting miniature paraphernalia extends beyond the memory jugs she makes. The above photos exhibit views of a small memory box assemblage I created in reverance of my mother, Blanche Kleid Zuckerman, who passed away at the young age of 78. This memory box was exhibited at my solo retrospective in the Loveland Museum Gallery in the fall of 2009, and is a good example of my obsession with the afterlife, by way of memorializing people I have loved. I wish my mother good luck, wherever she is and whatever state she is in. This shrine is inside an old wooden cigar box that I worked on over a period of several years. The coffin is an old snuff box, I believe. I am sleeping next to my mother in her coffin, just as I sleep next to her in her single bed only months before her death. I hadn't laid in my mother's bed with her since I was a little, little girl, but it is one of my favorite memories of her. I have her bed now in my studio. And her pillow.

Laurie Zuckerman's Memory Box, "Who Dreams of a Horse?"

Above is a second cigar box memory shrine dedicated to my father, George Zuckerman who was a Hollywood screenwriter and novelist. My father once wrote a Broadway play entitled, "Who Dreams of an Elephant?" My dreams as a child were of horses, horses, horses, so I titled this piece, "Who Dreams of a Horse?" Look carefully, you will see several miniature jugs in this memory box. One of my favorite things to collect. This memory box was also exhibited at the Loveland Museum Gallery in 2009. This photo represents an earlier version of this shrine. I will post new photos soon, as it is more fleshed out now with a wonderful background I found while junking in Wyoming.

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S CEMETERY CROSS PHOTOS FROM NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO

New Mexico cemetery cross

New Mexico cemetery cross

New Mexico cemetery cross with heart and goblet

New Mexico cemetery cross with a heart-like form 

New Mexico cemetery cross with what appears to be a double-heart 

New Mexico cemetery cross with what appears to be a double-heart 

Southern Colorado cemetery cross with head and arms

Southern Colorado cemetery cross with head and arms

New Mexico sandstone cemetery cross with amazingly stout proportions

Laurie Zuckerman shares her photos of anthropomorphic crosses from cemeteries in Hispanic New Mexico and Southern Colorado on this post. These naive handmade crosses are extremely unique and represent some of the oldest gravemarkers in the Southwest. They bridge the human aspects of death and Catholicism with their body-like forms. Please feel free to leave your comments and watch for new images each day.

My cemetery cross photo series is also linked to Rebecca Brooks' Recuerda Mi Corazon's blog hosting her series called "Stumbling Toward Ecstasy." Rebecca and I invite you to log on to her site:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/

LAURIE ZUCKERMAN'S CRUCIFIX PHOTOS FROM NEW MEXICO AND COLORADO CEMETERIES

 

Southern Colorado metal cemetery crucifix

Southern Colorado metal cemetery crucifix

Southern Colorado metal cemetery crucifix, half-buried

Colorado metal cemetery crucifix

New Mexico metal cemetery crucifix

New Mexico plastic cemetery crucifix

New Mexico plastic cemetery crucifix

New Mexican plastic/metal cemetery crucifix

New Mexico metal cemetery crucifix

New Mexico metal cemetery crucifix,  detail of arms

Laurie Zuckerman begins a new series of crucifix imagery photographed in northern New Mexico and Southern Colorado on January 1, 2011. The Catholic crosses are embedded in concrete or sandstone gravestones in old rural cemeteries, referred to as camposantos —holy fields. The photos date from my travels throughout the past seven years, specifically to document cemetery art. Here is a website I just found that provides photos and historical information about these "casket crucifixes" and "coffin crosses." http://www.catholichomeandgarden.com/crucifixes.htm

Check back daily for new photos from this series. If you are interested, all of these photos will be available for sale. Contact me at zucky@qwest.net

Southern Colorado metal cemetery crucifix with seashells

Southern Colorado metal cemetery crucifix with seashells and bottle

My crucifix photo series is linked to Rebecca Brooks' Recuerda Mi Corazon's blog hosting a series called "Stumbling Toward Ecstasy." Rebecca and I invite you to log on to her site:

http://corazon.typepad.com/recuerda_mi_corazon/