ABOUT RENATO

As a child Renato expressed his interest for the arts and at a very early age began showing his rebellious character which has become the motor that has driven him towards his finding his own path and style.

In 1985 Renato had a life threatening accident which resulted in injuries to his legs and back. As a result of the accident Renato has experienced a profound transformation… a gratitude for being alive which, since then, has accompanied him every day of his life.

The return to his native country Mexico, in 1986, was also vital for him and his family. In those days Cancún was a virgin paradise and it´s majestic nature cultivated in Renato´s heart a love for the land that would prove to be the central point of his life and artistic work.

When Renato was 15 his uncle Ariel Ortega, a master ceramist, arrived in Cancún. Almost immediately, Renato entered his ceramics workshop… and never left. At that moment he left behind conventional schooling… for the school of earth and fire. As Ariel was a ceramist and not a sculptor Renato had to begin developing his own techniques of sculpting in terra cotta. Since then he´s been developing his own ways of working.

Fascinated with the pre-hispanic cultures, since his arrival in Mexico, Renato began investigating the raw materials found in the earth where the Mayans lived. He finally developed a stucco which was similar to the one used by the ancient Mayan carvers. He learned techniques of sculpting in high relief and eventually became a teacher to indigenous people…thus helping to restore a forgotten tradition, to the very people who had invented the stucco used in the construction of the pyramids and the carving of the steles.

Since 1991 Renato, with the support of his family and sculpting team have created monumental works such as the 30 ft. high mega-sculpture “Ixim”, the 25 ft. long Mayan murals for the Barceló resort and the 25 ft. contemporary Mayan mural which was shipped by boat and installed in the Hotel Cresta in Savognin, Switzerland. For 2009 Renato has reached an agreement with the City of Cancún to create an enormous 75 ft. monument called “The Eternal Return of Kukulcán”. This will be installed in the center of a newly constructed overpass located at the entrance to the City.

Renato has always tried to create a message with his work, a message of his love for nature as well as a critique of the consumer culture of our era.

“In order to create a future that is sustained by our roots, it´s necessary to look towards the past and take into consideration the wisdom of our ancestors”.
- Renato Dorfman