Field Spoils 

I get a feeling of nostalgia for dirt from when I used to work various agriculturally related jobs in the central valley during summers. Clay is the closest material that fulfills this nostalgic feeling as it allows me to get dirty, physical, and work with my hands.

The fields have been harvested and the produce has been processed, packaged, and is heading out for delivery. As we drive past the familiar fields of California’s Central Valley, we see the massive planes of land – the never-ending crops stretched to the horizon – and the farm workers who follow behind the tractor ahead, picking them. The abundance of crops gives us a great sense of comfort, a sense that is amplified as we casually stroll through the isles overflowing, abundant with produce; there is great value placed on the goods from the central valley.

With the pieces presented for Field Spoils, I elevated the crop and the dirt by making it out of a new medium, by placing the ceramic dirt onto pedestals and attaching it to the wall. There are also in bins of ceramic that are erupting or flooding. The soil itself is valuable for the production and creation of the produce, but here, the dirt and soil are just seen in their most simplified form.

The work here is contradictory. Just like our relationship with produce. Although some forms are celebratory, others are decaying or ripped. While the bins are containers for holding the produce they also function as receptacles for throwing away that which is unused, rejected, spoils.

Bio

Abiam Alvarez grew up in Leon Guanajuato, Mexico for nine years before migrating to the United States in 1999 and settling in the small California town named Firebaugh, which is a farming community town surrounded by many fields of crop. Abiam Alvarez experienced some of the labors through the agriculturally related jobs available in the summers as he grew up and attended school.

After graduating high school, Abiam Alvarez attended California State University, Fresno from 2005 till 2011, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in art and design with an emphasis in ceramics and sculpture. He later went back to college to earn his single subject teaching credential in the art to be able to teach high school art. His summers were still spent working laborious occupations in the central valley as he attended college.

Abiam Alvarez is a first-generation college student in his family. Alvarez currently resides in the bay area as a ceramics and art high school teacher at Sobrato High School in Morgan Hill. His roots are closely tied to the central valley, where he grew up and makes work that speaks of the labors and political issues surrounding agriculture, consumerism, and immigrant workers while working on his MFA degree at San Jose State University.

Abiam Alvarez has been working with ceramics since 2005.

You can see more of Abiam’s work at: abiamalvarezsculpture.com and on Instagram @abiam.alvarez