Ernesto Durán Castro

Ernesto David Durán Castro (born April 14, 1948 in Santiago, Chile) is a Chilean visual artist, ceramic craftsman and sculptor. His work focuses mainly on pottery and ceramics from pre-Columbian cultures, along with the representation of the ancestral human figure. His technique is inspired by his artisan family heritage of santeros and potters.
His career tied to arts began at the age of 11, with his formal apprenticeship at the Liceo Experimental Artístico de Santiago, which led him in 1965 to study in the Department of Ornamental Public Art at the School of Arts of the University of Chile, to graduate in 1969, and later to teach from 1970 to 1975 as an assistant academic at the same institution.
At the same time, during his time as a university student, he began to participate in different activities related to working with ceramics, spending the summer periods of January and February for a period of four consecutive years: in 1966, he participated in the reconstruction of the Ahüi Fort in the Chiloé Province; then in 1967, he conducted popular ceramics and drawing workshops in San Carlos de Ñuble; in 1968, he again participated in conservation work for the historical site of the Matilla town in Tarapacá; finally, in 1969, he conducted popular ceramics workshops in Vicuña, in the region of Coquimbo; and finally, in 1969, he conducted popular ceramics workshops in Vicuña, in the Coquimbo Region.
His first works were statuettes of rural children between the years 65 and 67. The motifs of the countryside would become a main vein in his work during his early years and since the 90's and his ceramic work in the particular orange clay of the region, focuses on pre-Columbian cultures, especially the Atacameño, Diaguita, Mapuche and Selkʼnam cultures.
Oil and acrylic painting is also another area of the artist's work, where geometric patterns and singular motifs of the clothing of the ancestral figures stand out, which are colored in their entirety with earth tones.
Teaching and career
1967: Academic Ad. Honorem, in the Department of Ornamental Public Art, Former School of Stonemasonry and Ornamental Ceramics, University of Chile.
1968 - 1974: Assistant Instructor, Ornamental Ceramics Course, in the Department of Ornamental Public Art. Former School of Stonemasonry and Ornamental Ceramics of the University of Chile.
2013 - 2016: Sculpture Instructor, School of Architecture. Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Sciences, Universidad Mayor.
2015: Workshop Instructor of pre-Columbian pottery, Chimkowe Cultural Center. Cultural Corporation of the Municipality of Peñalolén.
2015: Teaching demonstrative-expositive workshops in the program, "Rutas Patrimoniales de las Artes Visuales de Peñalolén", Chimkowe Cultural Center. FONDART Metropolitan Region.
Since the beginning of his career and parallel to his work activities, he also teaches private art courses in his atelier in Peñalolén.
The statuettes of Duran gather themes related to the Andean culture, the Tawantisuyo among other pre-Columbian cultures, but also reflects contemporary issues in the attire or accessories of the personifications. Something unique that he developed during the 2021 together with the jeweler Brenda Gonzalez, were some ceramic pieces of the female figure during the pandemic, where the pieces wear surgical masks.
Pieces by the artisan are auctioned on international preservation and art curation platforms such as Catawiki of the Netherlands, Chairish of the United States or Selency (OLX) of France.