1933-2018
Dora De Larios was a sculptor, born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents, who is known for her ceramic works and massive mixed-media public sculptures. De Larios grew up in a predominantly Japanese community near Silver Lake, and this has influenced her art.
She majored in fine art and sculpture at U.S.C. and was the only Hispanic female in the art program. She was inspired by pre-Hispanic culture, world-wide mythology, Catholicism, and Japanese ceramic traditions in her figurative works. Both Pre-Columbian pottery and monolithic stone structures influenced her decision to work in clay.
Two of her sculptures are part of a 2017-2018 exhibition at Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Her “Warrior” evokes ancient West Mexican statues in its expressive face and bold geometric structure. It references an approximately two thousand year old slip-painted earthenware figure from Nayarit, Mexico.
In 1977, she was one of 14 American potters selected to design dinnerware for the White House. Before her recent death De Larios, along with her daughter and son-in-law, was producing a collection of hand-thrown and slab-built dinnerware in her signature brown, green, and blue glazes.
Her sculptures have been featured in more than 50 one-person gallery shows and museum exhibitions in the U.S. and can also be viewed at public spaces throughout Southern California. Her work is included in the Museum of Contemporary Crafts New York, the Craft and Folk Art Museum in Los Angeles, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.
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