hope sculpture

Hand-carved with devotion and hope, the Virgin Mary's sacred image conveys a tender aura. Peruvian artisan Johnny Chamba works with traditional techniques to masterfully craft this mohena wood sculpture in honour of Mary's maternal love.

"I made this sculpture as a tribute to life," confides John Barrow. "The different colors represent the joy of life, of feeling, and of having hope for the future. Its optimism is contagious." Barrow crafts the sculpture with hand-carved segments of cedar, mahogany and ishpingo woods. He stains the woods with colorful natural dyes.

"The tree of hearts is designed from personal inspiration. It's a metaphor of hope as I imagined a tree with heart-shaped fruits that when ripe, a person could pick and give as a present, or perhaps exchange, or else give to people who need to be more sensitive towards others, and why not, be more to sensitive to the environment?" says Luitpol as he shares his reflections. "The boy jumping up and down shows his happiness at being next to the tree of hearts and feeling the effects of its fruits: love, peace, unity, and sensibility."

Titled "Árbol de corazones" in Spanish.

"I pay tribute to love, the love of a couple, love for the family, children, friends. Love toward the world in which we live, so that it is better and better. A world filled with peace and hope – all this is reflected in my work through a simple heart. If you look closely, you'll see that they are two halves. Wedding rings form the heads of two people who hold hands," says Peruvian artisan Marco Floríndez. He sculpts this evocative piece of red steel.

Says Peruvian artist Julio Gallardo, "I love the type of work that I do, since it allows me to form whatever scene, thought, or idea in a wood box and deepen the significance of each detail." He handcrafts this retablo of local tornillo wood, featuring two swinging doors that are painted by hand with a floral design. These doors open to a fantastic world, depicting a group of salesmen in their tienda de corazones, surrounded by a variety of colourful hearts. Each miniscule piece in this retablo is crafted and painted by hand. Gallardo draws inspiration from themes of love, hoping to spread that with this creative retablo.