Masks

During pre-Hispanic times, the Teotihuacan or Maya wore carved masks during funerals. After the Spanish Conquest, masks were adopted for Catholic evangelization dances, but indigenous groups, such as the Cora and the Huichol, continued to use them for their own rituals. Mask making continues today, allowing the people of modern Mexico to change their identity, much as their forebears did. Young men become old, white people become black, men and women turn into animals, and indigenous people become Spaniards. The masking tradition of becoming something or somebody else, of turning the world upside down, continues in great measure due to the great masters of woodwork.

HERMINIO CANDELARIO DOLORES
Tlalcoyote Mask, 1997
Wood: Carved, polychromatic
Suchitlán, Colima