Judith Gumaro Lorenzo García is from San Juan Colorado, Oaxaca. She first learned to work with masks through sanding the wood as her father instructed her at the age of eight.  After she learned how to sand correctly, she started learning how to paint the masks. 

The first step in the creation of a mask is to go to the mountains with her parents and brothers and learn how to find the roots and other parts needed from the parota tree. They would use crowbars, sticks and machetes to remove the parts of the tree they wanted.  First, they would dig 3-4 meters deep to find the biggest root, cut it into pieces and finally carry it on their shoulders to the house — a very laborious task.

Next, they would take off the outside  layer so the pieces could dry. This process takes 15 -20 days. Then they are ready to start carving the mask that will take approximately eight days to finish.  Then it is sanded and polished before painting begins. 

The jaguar mask is very important in Judith’s culture and they believe there will always be young people in the community learning how to make these masks, however, in the pueblo of San Juan Colorado, there are very few sales and making a living carving is very difficult. 

Callejon de Suspiro SN

San Juan Colorado, Oax 71720

954 158 0404