Surreal Leopard Alebrije Artisan Crafted Paper Sculpture, "Phantasmagorical Leopard"

With the body and spots of a leopard, legs like bird talons, fins and long horns, this leopard is a fantastic representation of a true alebrije. Mexico's Morneo first models the sculpture with wire and then covers it with paper mache; then he paints it with acrylics and covers it with lacquer to give it a brilliant glow.

Alebrijes are a fairly recent Mexican art form, attributed to Pedro Linares. Unconscious due to illness in 1936, he was presumed near death and yet his dreams were extremely vivid. He tells of a place where all was peaceful and quiet until all of a sudden there appeared a lion with an eagle's head, a rooster with bull's horns and a donkey with butterfly wings. They kept screeching "alebrije, alebrije!" and Pedro began running away. He encountered a man who told him it was not yet his time to be there are and he should continue running towards the exit. In this dream Pedro climbed out of a window and regained consciousness.