Mauricio Guajardo Touché
Credits: UDEM File
Mauricio Guajardo Touché, a graduate of the Industrial and Systems Engineering undergraduate program decided to make a career change and become a ceramist, deleting the curriculum he had built up to that point, at 38 years of age, and start over. About this crucial decision, Mauricio commented: "After graduating, I worked for almost 15 years as an IIS and in Management in the Industry, and even though I liked it, I always felt that there was something missing. So, once when I went into the ceramics store at a German company, I felt like I was going into a museum and I told myself ‘This is what I want to do.’”
In 1996, he moved to Spain to start studying ceramics. He came back at the end of the same year, to set up his workshop in Monterrey. Later, in 1998, he started operations at his studio-workshop with the first burning.
"At first, the intention was to design and manufacture utilitarian objects such as dinnerware sets and vases. But in late 1998 and at the insistence of some friends, I entered the state contest of sculpture and ceramics, which at the time was called “Salón de Octubre.” To my surprise, I won first place in the beginners’ category and so I became interested in sculpture too. The following year, I won first place in the advanced category of the same contest and received the ‘Salón de Octubre’ award, Mauricio said about the first years of his new career.
Subsequently, he focused on designing and manufacturing more utilitarian objects, in addition to lecturing at the Tec de Monterrey and UDEM, while he pursued his specialization in ceramics. During this period, he also earned his master’s degree in the Fine Arts from the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León and taught some courses that other ceramists requested, in his workshop.
"In those years, I ventured into glass, both for sculpture and utilitarian objects, and I was invited to be a jury member at the Second Biennial of Glass, organized by the Museum of Glass, here in Monterrey,” Mauricio told us. Thanks to his research, he was also invited to present at the Second International Congress on Glass, at the Toluca Campus of the Tec de Monterrey, Campus Toluca.
Mauricio has also exhibited his work in various Mexican cities like Monterrey, Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Xalapa.
In 2013, Mauricio decided to go back to contests, winning second place in the Biennial of Utilitarian Ceramics of the Franz Mayer museum, in Mexico City. "In 2014, I won first place in “Tu Legado” (Your Legacy), a contest organized by UDEM to select the sculpture that would subsequently be gifted to benefactors for the construction of the Roberto Garza Sada Center. In 2015, I won first place at the Biennial of Utilitarian Ceramics of the same museum, the Franz Mayer,” he told us about his achievements.
Mauricio is always experimenting with new techniques that he then applies: "Sculpture reflects interests and concerns in an artistic way. For utilitarian objects, the aim is originality, function, innovation, and above all, beauty.”
About his future plans, Mauricio told us: "I want to start participating in contests and exhibitions outside Mexico. Besides, I am currently working on a series of sculptures based on the topic of butterflies and I continue my research on the possibilities of porcelain and its applications in art and decoration.”
