Medellín wrote that “sincere art must be elemental and close to the earth,” and he strove to create art influenced by “the common people and everyday life,” not “politics” or “sophisticated ideas.”[1] In the 1930s and 1940s, Medellín's work consisted primarily of sculptures and some paintings, many of which are owned by Southern Methodist University's Bywaters Special Collections.

Born of the son of an Otomi Indian mine worker in San Luis Potosi, Mexico in 1907, Medellín's native country was turning violent and riots were erupting more frequently than before.

[2] The violent chaos of the revolution in his country caused his family to relocate several times before they would eventually settle in to San Antonio, Texas in 1920.

Due to this, it remains a mystery as to why Medellín's father had returned to Mexico, where he would tragically die by the same forces of the revolution that caused him to move his family to San Antonio.

A year into his college education in 1929, he returned to his native country to start a two-year study of Mexico's art, style, customs, and history.

Medellín traveled "throughout the Gulf Coast, including the Yucatan" and explored the various talent and art created by the rural areas and the many "ancient ruins and sculpture of the Mayan and Toltec Indians.

During this period, Medellín was deeply inspired of the Mexican art (both ancient and modern) that helped him define his heritage and that enabled him to create his own artworks.

It was during this time that Medellín experimented with other forms of art such as ceramics, mosaics, glass works, and lost-wax bronze casting.

"Octavio Medellín: Spirit and Form at the Dallas Museum of Art, Part 1," Glasstire, January 10. https://glasstire.com/2023/01/10/octavio-medellin-spirit-and-form-at-the-dallas-museum-of-art-part-1/ Lewthwaite, Stephanie.