hand sculptures

Traditional Huichol elements such as the deer and the snake can be seen on this excellent small rabbit sculpture from Miguel Díaz in Mexico. The figurine is crafted from papier mache and then covered with tiny glass beads using beeswax. The Huichol are an indigenous people of central northwest Mexico with a rich culture and artisanal heritage.

In traditional Huichol style, tiny glass beads are individually applied by hand to this small papier mache skull using beeswax. Miguel Diaz in Mexico designs and crafts the sculpture, which features star motifs. The Huichol or Wixarika are an indigenous people in central western Mexico.

In traditional Huichol style, tiny glass beads are individually applied by hand to this small papier mache skull using beeswax. Mexico's Miguel Diaz designs and crafts the sculpture, which features peyote flower motifs, a common element in Huichol design. The Huichol or Wixarika are an indigenous people in central western Mexico.

Formed of three blue peyote buds, a lighted candle is radiant in this exquisite nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. A butterfly alights on either side in his composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artisan, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl, Spanish and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "The nierika is a mirror that is offered to the sea together with the first corn that has been harvested, in order to renew the cycle of rains that will give life to the next crop cycle. As in most of the ancient cultures of our planet, the candle represents our trajectory between being born and returning. For this reason, even today, during the celebration of our birthday, it is customary to light and blow out as many candles as solar cycles have elapsed. The butterflies and spirals are indicating that existence is energy in permanent transformation between arising from and returning to earth."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.

There are no lions native to western Mexico, but the Huichol (Wixarika) people were introduced to them through the Spanish. This is an interpretation of the animal using glass beads attached over a papier mache form. Artist Miguel Díaz hand presses each bead individually using beeswax as a kind of glue to create the intricate patterns and colors that you see here.

A myriad shades of blue conjure a cool and soothing universe in this elegant nierika, or votive beadwork painting by Kupihaute. Scorpions scuttle purposefully around the center of the composition, which takes the shape of a flower with five wide petals.

The artist, who writes fluently in the Huichol, Nahuatl and English languages, talks about this work in his own words. "From the focal center of the nierika, the precious flower arises in spiral movement as the culminating expression of the deepest roots. The blossom is keeping in its entrails the seed that will disseminate the power of creative energy. This is symbolized by the scorpions that, in their wonderful body symmetry, show the essence of the power itself, since any imbalance in its mating dance, any missing the target, will cause its own poisoning and thus its own death. Therefore the symbol of cosmos, of order is shown in their mouths and the tails."

The intricate images are formed with tiny seed beads. Kupihuate patiently places them one at a time with a needle made of abalone shell onto a huanacaxtle wood backing. Beeswax is used instead of glue.

The process is totally spontaneous, with no previous sketch or design. It is guided by the artist's unconscious to tell the stories that remain in our collective ancestral memory. He signs his work with the symbol of a butterfly on the reverse side of the nierika.