ARTIST 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 and emphasis in ceramics and sculpture. He later went back to college to earn his single subject teaching credential in 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 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. Abiam earned his MFA degree at San Jose State University in 2019. Abiam Alvarez has been working with ceramics since 2005.