Arthur Lopez – “Maria-Posa” Wood Carving

11"w x 10.5"h

$ 3,600.00

Arthur Lopez is one of the leading santos carvers in New Mexico.  After the piece is carved, is covered in gesso (a glue made from rabbit hide) which is allowed to dry and then sanded.  It is painted with both natural and watercolor pigment.  Natural colored pigments, such as the brown, are derived from black walnut hulls.   These are the time involved and historic foundations for his work.  This piece is entitled, “Maria-Posa”.   It is a fun play on  the Spanish words for Mary and Butterfly.  Arthur says of this piece:

“It is a piece is about hope that links several old and recognized symbols of the Mexican people. The monarch butterfly leaves Mexico in the spring, migrates to North America and returns to Mexico in the winter, in a near-miraculous cycle that each year spans the lives of several generations of monarchs that normally live less than two months. Guadalupe, the sacred mother Mary who appeared to San Juan Diego in 1531, is the patron saint of the Americas. The piece represents the potential for transformation in all of us and serves as a symbol of our past, our faith and the hope for rebirth in a better future.”

Arthur’s work is found in numerous museum and public collections, including Albuquerque Museum of Art & History,  Denver Art Museum,  Freedom Museum (911 Memorial at Ground Zero), Harwood Museum of Art, Museum of International Folk Art,  Museum of Spanish Colonial Art, and the State of New Mexico Permanent Art Collection.