Artist Spotlight > Oaxacan Wood Carvings

Development of the craft

Many rural households in the Mexican state of Oaxaca have prospered over the past three decades through the sale of brightly painted, whimsical wood carvings they call alebrijes to international tourists and the owners of ethnic arts shops in the United States, Canada, and Europe. What are called “alebrijes” in Oaxaca is a marriage of native woodcarving traditions and influence from Pedro Linares’ work in Mexico City.

Linares was originally from Oaxaca, and during family visits in Arrazola, he demonstrated the designed he was making in Mexico City. The first to copy the fantastic forms and bright colors was Manuel Jiménez, who carved the figures in local copal wood rather than using paper. Animal figures had always been carved in the central valleys area of Oaxaca by the Zapotecs since the pre-Hispanic period. Totems of local animals were carved for luck or religious purposes as well as hunting decoys. Figures were also carved for children as toys, a tradition that continued well into the 20th century. After the craft became popular in Arrazola, it spread to Tilcajete and from there to a number of other communities, and now the three main communities are , San Antonino Arrazola, San Martin Tilcajete and La Union Tejalapam, each of which has developed its own style. The carving of wood figures did not have a name, so the name “alebrije” eventually became adopted for any carved, brightly colored figure of copal wood, whether it is of a real animal or not. To make the distinction, the carvings of fantastic creatures, closer to Linares’ alebrijes, are now sometimes called “marcianos” (lit. Martians) . Oaxacan alebrijes have eclipsed the Mexico City version, with a large number of stores in and around the city of Oaxaca selling the pieces, and it is estimated that more than 150 families in the same area make a living making the figures.

Woodcarving, along with other crafts in Oaxaca, grew in importance as the state opened up to tourism. This started in the 1940s with the Pan-American Highway and has continued to this day with the construction of more roads, airports and other transportation coincided with the rising prosperity of the U.S. and Canada making Mexico an affordable exotic vacation. Oaxacan woodcarving began to be bought in the 1960s by hippies. Prior to the 1980s, most of the woodcarvings were natural and spiritual world of the communities, featuring farm animals, farmers, angels and the like.  These pieces, now referred to as "rustic" (nistico), were carved and painted in a simple manner. Later known for their alebrijes, carvers such as Manuel Jimenez of Arrazola, Isadoro Cruz of Tilcajete and Martin Sandiego of La Union began by carving animals as youths, often while doing other chores such as tending sheep. By the 1960s and 1970s, these carvers had enough of a reputation to sell their work in the city of Oaxaca. As more dealers shipping to other parts of Mexico and abroad visited the rural villages, more exotic animals such as lions, elephants and the like were added, and eventually came to dominate the trade. Eventually, traditional paints gave way to acrylics as well. Another development that encouraged woodcarving were artisans’ contests held by the state of Oaxaca in the 1970s, which encouraged carvers to try new ideas in order to win prizes and sell their pieces to state museums.
 

The Carving Process

The carving of a piece, which is done while the wood is still wet, can last anywhere from hours to a month, depending on the size and fineness of the piece. Often the copal wood that is used will influence what is made, both because of the shapes the branches can take and because male and female trees differ in hardness and shape. Carving is done with non-mechanical hand tools such as machetes, chisels and knives. The only time a more sophisticated tool is used is when a chain saw is employed to cut off a branch or level a base for the proposed figure. The basic shape of the creature is usually hacked using a machete, then a series of smaller knives used as the final shape is achieved. Certain details such as ears, tails and wings are usually made from pieces separate from the one for the main body.

After the carving, the figure is then left to dry for up to ten months, depending on its overall size and thickness. Semi tropical wood such as copal is susceptible to insect infestations, and for this reason drying pieces are often soaked in gasoline and sometimes baked to ensure that all insect eggs have been destroyed. As the figure dries, it is also susceptible to cracking. The cracks are filled with small pieces of copal wood and a sawdust resin mixture before painting. Oaxaca woodcarvings were all originally painted with aniline paints made with natural ingredients such as bark of the copal tree, baking soda, lime juice, pomegranate seeds, zinc, indigo, huitlacoche and cochineal. These colorings were also used for dying clothing, ceremonial paints and other uses. Since 1985, most carvers have now switched to acrylics which resist fading and withstand repeated cleanings better. However, some still use aniline paints as they have a more rustic look that some customers prefer. Either way, the painting is generally done in two layers, with a solid undercoat and a multicolored designed superimposed.

Originally, woodcarving was a solitary activity with all aspects done by one person, usually a male. As sales soared in the 1980s, the work began to be shared among family members. Women and children help mostly with sanding and painting, leaving men to contribute less than half of the work that goes into the figures. Despite this, pieces are still referred to as the work of one person, usually the male carver. There are exceptions to this. There are men who paint better than they carve and in the community of San Pedro Taviche, women collect and carve wood about as often as the men. In most cases, all the work on pieces is done by family members. Families may hire other relatives or strangers if faced with a large order. However, only the most established of carving families can have any permanent outside help and a number of these refuse to hire outsiders.

Copal Wood

Almost all alebrije carvers in Oaxaca use the wood of trees from the Bursera (burseraceae) family, with a preference for Bursera glabrifolia, which is locally called copal or copalillo. This tree is typically found in dry tropical forests in Oaxaca and neighboring states. The exceptions are Isidro Cruz of Tilcajete, who uses “zompantle” (Erythrina coralloides) and the Manuel Jimenez family, which carves in tropical cedar (Cedrella odorata L.) imported from Guatemala.

Originally, carvers obtained wood from the local forests on their own. Copal trees are short and squat and do not yield much wood; every piece is used. Despite this, the success of woodcarving caused an unsustainable drain on local wild copal, and nearly all of the trees near Tilcajete and Arrazola have disappeared. This localized depletion soon gave rise to a copal wood market in Oaxaca, even though many of the copal trees in other parts are of a different subspecies, which has more knots. Obtaining wood is a complex exercise because negotiating with other municipalities requires navigating complex social, legal and economic norms, and in many cases, state and federal environmental authorities have stepped in to try and preserve wild copal trees in a number of areas. Some communities have simply refused to sell their wood.  These difficulties has led to a black market in copal wood, with carvers purchasing most of their supplies from venders called “copaleros.” Harvesting copalillo is not a complex task; trees are relatively small and the wood is soft. Trees are felled using an axe or chainsaw. Branches are cut with machetes.  Most harvesting occurs on ejidal (communal) lands. Legal or not, the purchase of copal wood from other parts of Oaxaca is putting unsustainable pressure on wild populations in a wider area, forcing copaleros to go further to obtain wood and often to deal with angry locals and police who alternately seek bribes and enforce the law. Eventually, this led to about only six copaleros which control most of the wood being sold, and these supplies' being unreliable. The federal government states that most of the figures are made with illegally obtained wood.

Securing supplies of copal wood is a major concern for woodcarvers. Despite the fact that the cost of the wood is not particularly high, despite the effort, the main issue is reliability. Another issue for carvers is quality. Artisans will pay more for their wood only if they are sure they can pass the added cost onto their customers. A number of attempts to grow the trees for woodcarving purpose have been undertaken. Copal is a native tree species to the area, so it grows readily without much care. It takes anywhere from five to ten years for a tree to grow big enough to be harvested (branches or entire tree).  Some of the efforts include reforestation efforts sponsored by groups such as the Rodolfo Morales Foundation in Ocotlan, and a number of families spend time planting trees during the rainy season. Some have begun copal plantations. However, current needs for the wood far outweigh what these efforts have been able to produce.

Another effort involves a program designed to manage wild copal supplies in a municipality called San Juan Baustista Jayacatlán. This arrangement has economic advantages for both the alebrije-makers and the owners of the forests where the wood is produced.  It has not been developed sufficiently yet to make an impact on the illegal harvest of wood, but its organizers hope that in time, it will become the more economical and preferred method. The difference between this program and others is that this works within the broader ethnobotanical context by promoting the management of the species within its native habitat. Jayacatlán is located next to the recently established biosphere reserve of Tehhuacán-Cuicatlán. The benefit to Jayacatlán is to give the municipality a way to exploit its copal supplies and preserve its biodiversity at the same time. The benefit to carvers is to promote a reliable source of wood, as well as a trademark called “ecoalebrijes” to help them sell more alebrijes at a higher price. However, the wood from Jayacatlan is only sold to Arrazola and not to the other major center of Tilcajete. The enthusiasm of Arrazola’s woodcarvers stems more from having a supply of good wood than from notions of ecology.