page_title: Alebrije
section_title: The carving process
hierarchical_section_title: Alebrije / Carved wood alebrijes / The carving process
caption_attribution_description: English: Woman sanding a wood alebrije in progress in San Martin Tilcajete, Oaxaca, Mexico
context_page_description: Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with invention of the term, originated with Mexico City cartonero Pedro Linares. Linares often told that in the 1930s, he fell very ill, and while he was in bed, unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, animals, rocks, clouds that suddenly turned into something strange, some kind of animals, but, unknown animals. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head, and all of them were shouting one word, "¡Alebrijes!, ¡Alebrijes!". Upon recovery, he began recreating the creatures he saw in cartonería, a papercraft consisting of strips of paper and glue on an armature.
  His work caught the attention of a gallery owner in Cuernavaca, in the south of Mexico and later, of artists Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. In the 1980s, British filmmaker Judith Bronowski arranged an itinerant Mexican art craft demonstration workshop in the United States featuring Pedro Linares, Manuel Jiménez and a textile artisan Maria Sabina from Oaxaca.
context_section_description: The carving of a piece, which is done while the wood is still wet, can last anywhere from hours to a month, depending on the size and fineness of the piece. Often the copal wood that is used will influence what is made, both because of the shapes the branches can take and because male and female trees differ in hardness and shape. Carving is done with non-mechanical hand tools such as machetes, chisels and knives. The only time a more sophisticated tool is used is when a chain saw is employed to cut off a branch or level a base for the proposed figure. The basic shape of the creature is usually hacked using a machete, then a series of smaller knives used as the final shape is achieved. Certain details such as ears, tails and wings are usually made from pieces separate from the one for the main body.
  After the carving, the figure is then left to dry for up to ten months, depending on its overall size and thickness. Semi tropical wood such as copal is susceptible to insect infestations, and for this reason drying pieces are often soaked in gasoline and sometimes baked to ensure that all insect eggs have been destroyed. As the figure dries, it is also susceptible to cracking. The cracks are filled with small pieces of copal wood and a sawdust resin mixture before painting.
  Oaxaca woodcarvings were all originally painted with aniline paints made with natural ingredients such as bark of the copal tree, baking soda, lime juice, pomegranate seeds, zinc, indigo, huitlacoche and cochineal. These colorings were also used for dying clothing, ceremonial paints and other uses. Since 1985, most carvers have now switched to acrylics which resist fading and withstand repeated cleanings better. However, some still use aniline paints as they have a more rustic look that some customers prefer. Either way, the painting is generally done in two layers, with a solid undercoat and a multicolored designed superimposed.
  Originally, woodcarving was a solitary activity with all aspects done by one person, usually a male. As sales soared in the 1980s, the work began to be shared among family members. Women and children help mostly with sanding and painting, leaving men to contribute less than half of the work that goes into the figures. Despite this, pieces are still referred to as the work of one person, usually the male carver. There are exceptions to this. There are men who paint better than they carve and in the community of San Pedro Taviche, women collect and carve wood about as often as the men.  In most cases, all the work on pieces is done by family members. Families may hire other relatives or strangers if faced with a large order. However, only the most established of carving families can have any permanent outside help and a number of these refuse to hire outsiders.
caption: Woman sanding an alebrije in progress in San Martin Tilcajete
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