Luis Pablo's bold jaguar mask is made of copal wood and painted in ochre, orange, cobalt blue, turquoise, red, and white. The large golden eyes give the face a very intense look, and the broad muzzle and square teeth add a rather theatrical, playful element.
Natural ixtle fiber along the cheeks and ears is one of the mask's most striking features. The coarse pale fibers are a perfect contrast to the smooth painted wood and give the impression of tufts of fur.
They add a real sense of texture and dimension and are what give the mask such a very distinct tribal feel.
What I really like about Luis Pablo's is how he takes the concept of an ancient ritual mask and gives it a very contemporary twist. It's absolutely grounded in the ceremonial/ancestral sense of a mask, but the strong geometry, the color blocking, the dots, the diamonds, and the very sharp bands all give it a very modern, almost graphic feel.
The jaguar has been a very significant figure in Mesoamerican art and symbolism for a very long time (associated with power, strength and the supernatural). Luis Pablo is drawing on that long tradition of imagery, without attempting to make an actual replica of an ancient mask. He has produced a very personal Oaxacan wood carving that links the past and the present.
Origin: Oaxaca. Dimensions: 12" Tall 12" Wide 2" Deep
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