Whimsical Coconut Masks
I have been building my collection of Coconut masks since 2014 and it is one of my favourite folk arts. They are known in Spanish as Mascaras de Coco and represent colorful faces, animals, suns, vegetables and flowers. Made by Nahati artists who live in the Mezcala region of the State of Guerrero, Coconut shell masks have been made in Mexico since the 1950's. The first masks were based on the Guerrero State traditional masks such as the jaguar and a devils face but you can now pick up a pig, a flower or even a strawberry. Using their traditional craft skills such as wood carving, clay work and painting they cleverly used this waste product to produce these fun and fantastic faces to sell in the markets.