Guatemala City based in Barcelona
The Altar
In The Eighth Day exhibition, Lucía presents an altar that pays tribute to the market a place familiar from her childhood and one that continues to reveal itself through time and space. More than a site of commerce, the market is the origin of human interaction. Long before money existed, people exchanged objects, stories, and seeds; communities were born in these spaces.
Markets serve as living meeting points in cultures and cities worldwide, reflecting the earth’s abundance and celebrating its fruits as a terrestrial calendar. The energy flowing through them is vibrant, ancestral, and alive. Markets sustain families, preserve cultures, and weave the social and economic fabric of communities.
In many towns, markets follow a weekly rhythm a special day when stalls fill with fresh harvests, textures, and voices; a day of abundance and gathering. This altar evokes what lies beyond that cycle, invoking The Eighth Day as a timeless portal where exchange becomes ritual, and the market transforms into a sacred offering.
Using traditional textiles, dried flowers, candles, and corn the symbol of life in Mesoamerican cultures—this altar honors the invisible labor, cultural knowledge, and daily devotion of those who sustain these markets, especially the women whose hands make the market a living altar.
This work is a poetic celebration of cultural resilience, the persistence of tradition, and the vibrant pulse of community life. It invites viewers to reflect on the deep roots that sustain identity and to recognize the sacred rhythms embedded in everyday practices.
Lucía Cheves Dauber
Lucía Cheves Dauber is originally from Guatemala, a land in constant movement, where she finds the essence of her art in color and traditional Maya clothing. After leaving her country, she explored cultural identity through traditional costume.
Now based in Barcelona and working at ZEIT Art Studios, her work celebrates and preserves her roots.
Her art draws inspiration from the textiles, colors, and symbols of the Maya that define Guatemala’s visual identity. Through her exploration, she discovered the tuk-tuks as a symbol of movement and energy. These vehicles shake the earth as they pass, weaving a pulse that transforms the city into rhythm and color.
Instagram: @lucicheves
