Day of the Dead Collection
WATERCOLORS
2026
The 2026 Día de los Muertos Collection continues my exploration of the space between life and death through a new journey across Mexican life and culture.
From ancestral games and regional dances to mariachi music, Xochimilco, life by the sea, and the hopeful ¿Y si sí? that echoed through Mexico during the 2026 World Cup, these watercolors move across different places and moments in Mexican culture. Their figures seem to stand with one foot in the present and another in memory, carrying traditions forward while reminding us that the past remains present in the way we live, celebrate, and remember.
The collection will be unveiled at Galleria Dante in Puerto Vallarta on Friday, October 30, 2026. Following the unveiling, the collection will remain on display there, with pieces available for purchase directly through the gallery — until each piece finds its new home.
2025
The 2025 Día de los Muertos Collection deepens the exploration I began last year — a space where life and death intertwine, and the ordinary becomes symbolic.
These watercolors portray Mexico in its daily rhythms and traditions: music in the plazas, flower vendors, horsemen, tacos al pastor on the street corner. Some figures fade into bone, others remain fully alive, but all reveal the vibrant continuity of tradition.
Some pieces from this collection are still on display and available for purchase through Galleria Dante.
2024
In 2024, I decided to paint a series of watercolors alluding to the Day of the Dead, while portraying traditions and customs of the Mexican culture.
The characters are not completely skeletons like José Guadalupe Posada’s classic Catrina; some still wear their skin, or it’s vanishing to reveal the skeleton, because “Noche de Muertos” is a threshold, where the living coexists with the dead.
Day of the Dead Meaning
The Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a Mexican celebration that honors deceased loved ones. Celebrated on November 1st (All Saints’ Day) and November 2nd (All Souls’ Day), it blends ancient indigenous customs with Spanish Catholic traditions.
The celebration is not about mourning but about remembering and celebrating the lives of the departed. Families set up altars, or ofrendas, in their homes or at cemeteries, adorned with items such as photographs, candles, marigolds (cempasúchil flowers), food, and personal belongings of the deceased. The purpose is to welcome the spirits back to the world of the living, allowing them to enjoy their favorite things and feel close to their families once more.
Symbols like decorated sugar skulls (calaveras), colorful paper cutouts (papel picado), and the Catrina figure (a skeleton dressed in elegant clothing) are central to the celebration. It is a joyful, vibrant event that views death as a natural part of life and a moment for reconnecting with ancestral roots.