“Since seeing an exhibition celebrating the Mexican ‘Day of the Dead’ at the (sadly defunct) Museum of Mankind about 15 years ago, I have been fascinated at the way skeletons could be used in such gay, colourful and outright fun imagery - far removed from that of Edgar Allan Poe and those corny Hammer Horror flicks of my childhood. The images and sculptures from that exhibition stuck in my memory and became a fixation for me and one of the thrills of finally being able to visit the actual country where those celebrations took place. I was in Mexico recently working at a mosaic factory in Cuernavaca. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to be there for the Day of the Dead Festival, which takes place at the beginning of November, but I was able to collect some imagery and figurines connected with it – which became the inspiration for these mosaics. I hope that they make you laugh and that you can enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them.”

see "Day of the Dead Market Lady" on martin cheek's website