(Zarco Guerrero) Continue to the corner section of this exhibit that depicts a mask makers taller, a workshop. It kind of looks like my own workshop. I began my mask making in Mexico having worked with maskers from the state of Morelos, Michoacan and Guerrero. From Mexico, I have traveled to Japan, Bali, China and Alaska, to absorb the influences of these other styles and have incorporated them into my own work.
I use a lot of the same tools and techniques from the Mexican mask makers, but have also adapted other tools and materials from other countries.
Mexican masks are primarily carved in a wide variety of local types of wood. Tools include hatchets, chisels, knives and improvised tools such as sharpened screwdrivers, files and kitchen knives. Other materials used to make masks are leather, papier maché and tin.
Accessories used to decorate the masks vary greatly, such as goat and bull horns, mirrors, ribbons, glass, tinfoil and fur. Some masks can be made out of or include such exotic materials as armadillo, snake or other reptilian skin, teeth and bone. Style, technique and materials vary greatly from artisan to artisan and from village to village. The Mexican mask-making tradition continues to evolve and will most certainly adopt more modern and imported materials and tools.
(Pounding noises)
Special Thanks to Gateway for their support of this project.
Many thanks also to the University of Arizona Disability Resources Center for transcribing the tour episodes.
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