Magaly Fuentes: Spectacular Alebrije Great Horned Owl
Magaly Fuentes: Spectacular Alebrije Great Horned Owl
Jose Calvo and Magaly Fuentes work as a team, and this hand-carved wooden owl alebrije is a great example of why their pieces are worth waiting for. Jose carves. Magaly paints. Between them, they produce some of the most refined collaborative work coming out of San Martín Tilcajete, the heart of Oaxacan alebrije tradition.
Standing nearly ten inches tall, Jose’s copal wood carving is quietly confident. The owl stands upright on strong feet, chest rounded, wings folded tight against a long tail, twin horns lifting from a watchful head. Nothing exaggerated. Every proportion feels correct, which is harder than it sounds.
Then Magaly begins. The face is where she pulls you in first. Two enormous sunflower eyes, painted in radiating gold and amber petals with amber irises at the center, watch you steadily from a violet brow marked in fine dot borders. Below them, the chest opens in a spread of lavender, pink, and blue feathers around a small orange beak. The wings and tail are divided into panels, each one carrying its own pattern: fine Greek key frets, stepped designs, tiny dotwork, Zapotec textile motifs in turquoise, copper, amber, and gold. Every panel is a small painting.
In Zapotec tradition, the owl is a tecolote, a bird of wisdom, vision, and quiet knowing. Owls see what others miss. They move between worlds and carry messages across them. To have a Oaxacan owl alebrije watching over the house is to have a wise companion at the window, a guardian of insight, patience, and good judgment.
A serious piece of Mexican folk art for the serious collector, made by two artists whose partnership shows in every surface of this hand-painted owl sculpture.
