Mexican Alebrije Camel Sculpture with Geometric Designs, "Geometric Camel"

Geometric checkerboard designs adorn each of the four legs of this eye-catching alebrije camel sculpture from artisans Jesus and Roxana Hernandez of Oaxaca. Carved by hand from copal wood, the two-humped camel is decorated in vivid tones to give it that unreal and strange appearance that is characteristic of alebrijes. The Mexican duo want to help preserve this tradition which, as Jesus states, helps, "...stop the migration of artisans to cities to find work."

The alebrije tradition started with Mexico City papier mache artisan Pedro Linares (1906-1992). When he was 30, he fell into a coma due to serious illness. While he was unconscious, he dreamed he was caught between the land of the living and the dead; the place looked like a forest and was populated with creatures with body parts belonging to different animals. The beings repeatedly uttered the word alebrije. Upon recovering, Linares recreated these figures in bright colors using papier mache techniques and called them alebrijes. His work became famous and was one of the main influences of artisans in the state of Oaxaca who began crafting alebrijes of their own using traditional wood carving methods.