sea decor

Glittering with silver tones and vibrant, multicolored designs, a fascinating fish makes a mystical addition to your home decor with this figurine from Mexico. Pablo and Lucy Mendez, who carry on the tradition of alebrije folk art, work together to create the fish. They carve this figurine of copal wood and paint it by hand.

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.

A rotund fish with big eyes swims sinuously in cool rivers. Colorful motifs from Zapotec art and ancient temples cover the body and fins. By Manuel Cruz, this is a beautiful example of Mexico's alebrije art. The image is carved by hand of copal wood in the style of Oaxaca and meticulously painted by hand with tiny brushes. The finer details are created using a maguey thorn instead of a brush.

The alebrije tradition originated with Mexico City artisan Pedro Linares (1906-1992). When he was 30, he became ill and fell into a coma. While he was unconscious, he dreamed he was caught between the land of the living and the dead, a place populated with creatures whose body parts belonged to different animals. The beings repeatedly cried, "Alebrije!" When he was well, Linares recreated these fanciful figures in papier mache. His work became famous and inspired artisans in the state of Oaxaca, who began crafting alebrijes of wood.

The wood branch dictates the final form, thus size and shapes can vary slightly. Thus, each alebrije is an authentic work of Mexican folk art.

The sea transforms into a oneiric realm in these wood ornaments by Mexico's Alejandra Gallardo. Inspired by the alebrije art style, the ornaments assume the shape of delicate seahorses in a palette of blue and fuchsia hues, each dangling from nylon ribbons.

Designed by Mexican duo Jesus and Roxana Hernandez, this set of five ornaments carries on the rich tradition of alebrije sculptures. Each ornament is carved by hand of copal wood to depict a sweet whale. The ornaments are hand-painted with assorted colors.

"Alebrije! Alebrije!" shouted Pedro Linares after a feverish dream he had in 1930. From that day, Mexico City experienced an artistic phenomenon full of fantastic and colorful creatures. Named after Pedro's words, this art style is present in many works, like this steel wall art design crafted by Alejandro de Esesarte.

"I was drawing an alebrije-like figure, when a little girl came to see what I was doing and joyfully shouted, 'alegrijes!' She misspelled 'alebrijes,' and we all laughed," he recalls.

"Later in the day, it hit me — the little girl didn't make a mistake. Because by changing a single letter, she gave me the new name for my line of alebrijes. They will be called alegrijes.

"Alegre' means means 'joy.' Alegrijes — the ones who bring joy." The artisan uses a colorful palette to bring an impossible creature to life — a bunny with crab limbs and fish features.