Luis Pablo: Confident Ram Woodcarving Animal Sculptures

Luis Pablo: Confident Ram Woodcarving Animal SculpturesThis ram alebrije, crafted by Oaxaca artist Luis Pablo, radiates personality from every curve. He sits upright and composed, a ram at rest with the quiet authority of one who knows his worth. His body is rounded and full, cloaked in deep cobalt blue that melts into sky blue at the chest, while aquamarine flecks shimmer across his coat like sunlight dancing on water. His eyes are bright and alert, circled in teal and traced with warm orange, set in a

edged with red-dashed stitching

The blue shifts and shimmers depending on the light

Aries leads as the first sign

This extraordinary jaguar

a small altar that carries the whole weight of a great Mexican feast for the dead

the village where the tradition began

the upright Aztec drum

the signature plume that real Xolos sometimes carry between their ears

visible only when you know to look

On the initiative of Pedro Leites

the tradition was to paint the story on a piece of tin or metal

and natural environment