The Mask as Miniature Art Form
According to Wikipedia, the definition of miniature art is that art which can be held in the palm of the hand. On rare occasions artists have come in to Galería Namu with this genre of art. What is our dilemma is how to reconcile our pricing with the fact that the artist tells us that doing that kind of art is infinitely more challenging than the larger format – really it is a huge dilemma!
We strive to encourage the artists in all his or her endeavors, but at the same time we have to keep our eye on the expectations of our consumers. Perhaps if we had a gallery in Manhattan we could recommend price points for these gems, but apart from that, we gently explain to the artist that perhaps the market cannot support such efforts and the balance is usually struck around the fact that the artist strongly embraces the thrill of creating in miniature!
What then happens in the gallery, when we have acquired such diminutive pieces, is that we see an almost a childlike delight and enchantment with the Lilliputian version of a piece. And so when Diego Vega Lázaro (Rey Curré village) came to visit us recently and took out of his bag some tiny masks, measuring between 1 1/2″ to 2″, we too gasped with delight.
Artistic Cultural Blood Flows in Miniature
Although Diego had never stepped foot in the gallery before, his family was well know to us. His aunt and grandmother make lovely etched jícaras (traditional gourd-like tropical fruit shell) and a variety of creative jícara-art pieces such as hair slides, armadillo money banks and maracas, as well as contemporary woven bags. His uncle and several cousins make Rey Curré-style masks so it is safe to say that the artistic cultural blood flows in his Brunka veins!
Diego’s facility with these little masks is amazing; no two are the same and he loves to make them. He named his price, which we found to be most reasonable despite the painstaking technique revealed in his little art works. The miniature pieces hold up well under magnification as our eye is drawn deeper and deeper into the gem-like details of the mask.
Now we have great news for our much-appreciated newsletter subscribers: Diego is working on creating a limited supply of these pieces just for Namu and we will include one, free of charge, with your online order from our website between now and February 1st.
Are you a Namu Newsletter subscriber? Easy to become one: click here! …and receive your miniature art mask with order. Tip: Click on images to view detail.
