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Monday, July 23, 2012

Incredible Mexican pottery from Mata Ortiz!



Mata Ortiz, a town in northern Chihuahua, Mexico (MAP), is justly famous for its world-class ceramic art. Mata Ortiz also happens to be a venue in Distant Cousin: Recirculation. Novels being what they are, photographs are seldom present, but the work of the artists in Mata Ortiz deserves to be more widely known than it is now--that is, mainly by collectors, art galleries, and cognoscenti.

Our extraterrestrial friend Ana Darcy Méndez lives in southern New Mexico, only about 150 miles from Mata Ortiz, and thanks to her in-laws knows it well. She is not a collector but a friend of a friend has collected pieces from Mata Ortiz for years. Here is a representative sample. The small ones below are called "seed pots." (Click any to enlarge; click the X to return.)










(includes arpilleras, molas, and clothing)












Saturday, July 21, 2012

Ana finds a treasury of molas and Mexican art!


You might expect that the first human extraterrestrial woman to return to her home planet (Earth) would be a collector, and that she would be delighted by all the novel things to be found around her and want to keep a selection with her at all times.

If you'd expect that you would be wrong. Ana Darcy does indeed love much of Earth's surprising bounty, but such is her personality that she prefers living simply, and having around her only the most utilitarian, necessary objects for daily life. She loves museums, however, and loves visiting other people who are collectors--which is why she was so delighted to meet the friend of a friend who collects Mexican art, something Ana feels a spiritual connection to.

We have already presented some of the arpilleras, molas, murals, paintings, clothing, and sculpture that Ana has enjoyed to date. Below is a preview of some of the Mexican folk art (and some slightly more formal art) in the collection of her friend's friend. (Click any to enlarge; click the X to return.)

The total collection is astounding. In the near future we will present more of these delightful, imaginative artworks.

Molas! See the mermaid?



Clothing (huipil):


Masks:


Ceramics:






Monday, July 2, 2012

More textile sculpture: Mexican dolls!


Ana found these stunning handmade Mexican folk dolls at a friend's home and fell in love with them immediately. The one on the right is eight inches (20 cm) tall. Two have tiny babies slung on their backs!

Ana says the people on Thomo, her home planet, have nothing resembling a "toy industry," and mothers (and grandmothers) tend to make dolls and toys for their youngsters. Some Thoman clothing, she says, even resembles the Mexican styles seen here. (Click to enlarge.) 

She admits regretting that she had nothing this precious for her own daughter, but she's going to try to collect some now. It's never too late!

See much more of the textile art of Earth Ana has enjoyed below. You will notice that most of it is Latin in nature, from Central and South America. That's because Ana lives in a Mexican-American household in New Mexico. She would welcome reader suggestions for more textile folk art from other parts of the world!