‘The Breath of Life’: Carbondale Clay Center’s first exhibit of the year

Courtesy/ Carbondale Clay Center
Crumbling clay figures, worn with time and neglect, became a symbol of rebirth to Mexico City photographer Álvaro Alejandro López when he created his 24-image series, “The Breath of Life.”
Sculpted as portraits of popular and religious figures by artisans from different regions of Mexico — mainly Tlaquepaque, Jalisco — these pieces were a part of Fernando Gamboa’s artifact collection. Gamboa was a Mexican museographer, cultural promoter and López’s great-uncle.
López found the collection of 19th- and early 20th-century art — made of wood, paper or clay — abandoned in a house his family had inherited.
“After my uncle’s death, his collections fell apart, and some pieces, like the ones I portray, suffered abandonment and neglect,” López said. “Due to the fragility of their materials, many of their details faded, their bodies lost parts or suffered cracks. However, the unique and skillful art of the hands that created them can still be appreciated in them.”
The photographer was inspired by the beauty he saw in the worn lines and fading colors of the handmade creations.
“At first I looked at the figures with great curiosity,” López said. “I felt a little sad about their deterioration, but when I looked closely at the lights and shadows, I got the impression that the wear and tear and their ruined character gave them more life. I immediately thought about starting a photographic series.”
Between 2019 and 2023, López photographed the pieces against a deep black background that “provides a mysterious and primeval touch, like the night,” he said.
Named “The Breath of Life,” López’s collection of photos is a love letter to the beauty found in age.
“They are reborn in their wear and tear and old age, their collapses and fractures recreate them,” López said. “In them we can glimpse the primal, the mineral and vegetal memory that is always the beginning and breath of life.”
The Carbondale Clay Center’s first exhibit of 2025, “The Breath of Life,” marks the first time the collection has been shown in person, according to López.
“At first, they’re just images on a computer. So you don’t really get to dive into it,” Matthew Eames, the center’s operations manager, said. “Getting to see them in person gives you a little bit more of the (photos), being that they’re a little larger than what you see on your small computer. The scale starts to play into how you react to what you’re seeing and the curiosity of the actual object really starts to take place.”
The exhibit is on display from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays until Feb. 21st at the Carbondale Clay Center, 135 Main St., Carbondale. Stop by the center for the exhibit’s First Friday Reception from 6-8 p.m. on Feb. 7.
“We try to rotate the gallery so that the community can have the opportunity to see a dynamic variety of work,” Eames said. “Anyone who’s interested in artwork, anyone who’s interested in culture, anyone who’s interested in history. Those three aspects are, in a way, all being tied into this show.”
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