Betsabée Romero

BETSABÉE ROMERO (Mexico City, 1963).
Rosette, 1995.
Recycled tire and ceramic.
Measurements: 56 x 18 cm.

Created in 1995, “Rosetón” belongs to a pivotal period in the consolidation of Betsabée Romero’s artistic language, characterized by the reclaiming of everyday objects and their transformation into vessels of cultural memory and collective identity. In this work, the artist takes a tire—a symbol of mobility, transit, and industrial development—and reinterprets it through a handcrafted intervention that establishes a dialogue between the contemporary and Mexican folk traditions. The rubber surface has been adorned with hand-painted floral motifs, evoking the ornamentation of Mexican decorative arts and the symbolic richness of its traditional patterns. At the center of the piece is an glazed ceramic element, decorated with floral motifs in shades of pink and ochre, which reinforces the circular structure of the composition and the formal reference to the architectural rose window.

The title alludes to the radial geometry of medieval stained-glass windows and their symbolic dimension as an element of contemplation and light. Romero thus creates a tension between the speed and consumerism associated with the tire and the permanence of artisanal traditions, between the industrial object and the tradition of handcraft. In this way, *Rosetón* synthesizes some of the fundamental themes of Betsabée Romero’s work: the reexamination of symbols of Mexican culture, the revaluation of everyday materials, and the poetic transformation of objects linked to daily life. A representative work by one of the most renowned contemporary Mexican artists for her ability to articulate memory, identity, and social critique through sculpture.

Betsabée Romero is one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Mexican art. Trained at the National School of Plastic Arts at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, she has developed a multidisciplinary practice that combines sculpture, installation, printmaking, and painting, focusing on the reinterpretation of collective symbols, popular traditions, and processes of cultural identity.
Since the 1990s, her work has explored the relationship between pre-Hispanic, colonial, and contemporary urban culture, using materials rich in meaning—such as automobiles, tires, and industrial objects—that she transforms using artisanal techniques. Her work has been featured in major international exhibitions and is part of public and private collections, establishing her as one of the essential voices in contemporary Latin American art.