www.nicaceramicart.com

Helio Gutierrez defines the contemporary movement of San Juan de Oriente, Nicaragua pottery. Helio's mother was a creative artisan while his father was a rancher of substantial local farms. Both of Helio's parents passed while he was young and he and 10 siblings were forced to take care of each other with older sister Casta taking control of the family at 16 years of age. The children went daily to a coffee plantation on the Mombacho volcano to harvest beans, not so much to make money, Helio stated, but they would provide meals for the workers. At about 15 years old Helio started a formal apprenticeship under master artisan Gregorio Bracamonte.

At that time the ceramics of the pueblo were very traditional. While most made rustic urns and utilitarian vessels Don Gregorio was reproducing finely decorative styles from a lost pre-Columbian heritage. While Helio learned this style he felt a heavy desire to create designs outside of the traditional variety. Helio learned to paint with the sap of the Mora tree. Gregorio recalls that Helio would paint fine lines with a brush main of a few human hairs and that the outcomes were different and unique.

Helio would continue this formal relationship for about 4 years and at the age of 19 set out on his own to establish a new style of ceramic art that would be his own. Helio began to incise designs into the pottery service in a scrafitto technique. He discovered different minerals and mixed them with the traditional pigments. Helio used color and created motifs influence by local amphibians as well as plants and flowers. All of these ideas were drastically different than what had been known and accepted by artisans in San Juan de Oriente. A further development was a measuring technique that was the basis for intricate geometric design. The combination of contemporary themes and geometric design is Helio Gutierrez's influence to San Juan pottery. In 1992 an opportunity to display a group of work at the World's Fair in Spain sparked a group of techniques that remain to be influential around the pueblo. First Helio established his step son, Miguel Maldonado, as an apprentice looking toward the production for such a prestigious opportunity. From that group of work techniques in burnished mosaic color, geometric scrafitto designs and a chipping technique known as "alto relieve" was born. At the same time these techniques were emerging the growth of a new generation of artisan began. Significant in this new generation was the concept that they were not being traditionally trained in the pre-Columbian style; these young artisans were an integral part of a movement that was happening at that very moment.

The development of these young artisans around Helio Gutierrez has made a very significant impact on the entire village. An important concept in Helio's work was, and remains, a link to his pre-Columbian roots. Although Helio doesn't fashion work in the tradition form, his work is clearly influenced by this heritage. It was a sculpture that most directly describes this contemporary/pre-Columbian style that won Helio Gutierrez the UNESCO award in Córdoba, Argentina in 1999. The "Hombe Pez" sculpture was a revelation, a figurative sculpture that melded a human face and a fish body, the vessel was decorated with volcano sand and geometric scales. This honor placed Helio on an international stage and elevated the entire pueblo to a destination for international buyers to fill their shelves.

Helio has gone on to win many international and national awards. His work is in the White House Collection, the Prado Museum as well as the private collections of dignitaries of countries all around the world. Helio has participated in a solo show at the new Smithsonian Indian museum in Washington, DC. His status as an UNESCO artist remains and garners opportunities around the world. Today Helio continues to create new work as well as reflecting back to blend signature techniques into new formats. His studio in San Juan de Oriente is on the second floor of the home he build after winning the UNESCO ward and now home to the Gallery NICA location in the pueblo.

Signed and dated in the same manner has his original works Helio Gutierrez sculpture are true collectors pieces crafted by an artist who has had a profound influence on his pueblo both artistically and economically.