Agustín Cruz Tinoco
Agustín Cruz Tinoco is an artisan from San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca, Mexico noted for his wood carvings. His work has been recognized both in Mexico and abroad.
Origin
Cruz Tinoco learned to carve as a child from his father, also a noted artisan, in his hometown of San Juan Otzolotepec in the Sierra Mixe region of Oaxaca, where he family grew coffee and corn.[1][2][3] When he was older, he moved from here to San Agustín de las Juntas, a town close the Oaxacan state capital, sending for his wife, Cleotilde Prudencio Martínez, and four children a year later. Initially he worked in construction to support his family, carving at night, finding more of a market for his works here than his hometown, despite the fact that San Agustín de las Juntas is not a town noted for wood crafts.[1][2]
Artistry
Cruz Tinoco is best known for his religious figures and nativity scenes,[2] but creates various other figures such as carts, carousels, Ferris wheels, altarpieces and more. It also includes whimsical works such as nativity scenes mounted on a tortoise, boxes in jaguar shape, skeletal figures and animals doing human activities and even a chess set pitting the Spanish conquistadors against the Mexican indigenous.[1][3] (schoolarts) He works in pine, cedar. Mahogany and a soft local wood called copal, popular among Oaxacan craftsmen. He studies the raw wood in order to use its natural forms and qualities in the finished piece.[2][3] Tools include machetes, various knives, chisels, agave thorns and needles. The machetes and large knives are for creating the basic shape of a piece, with the smaller implements to refine and create intricate details and designs.[1][2][3]
Involvement of the family
Originally Cruz Tinoco left the works unpainted until his older daughter Edilma became interesting in painting them. This made the works more popular and soon the rest of the family participating in the carving and painting, which is traditional among Oaxacan artisan families.[2][4] His two sons help with the carving with the younger, Manuel, the more promising carver, and the older, Agustín, Jr., doing much of the public relations work.[2][3] His wife and two daughters do the painting, often with direction from Cruz Tinoco, using acrylics.[1] First a base coat is applied, then other colors are applied over that, often with intricate and repeating designs.[2]
Recognition
Cruz Tinoco and the family have won awards and recognition for their work in Mexico and abroad.[2][3][4] They participate regularly in the International Folk Art Market in Santa Fe, New Mexico and are featured in the book “Grandes Maestros de Arte Popular de Iberoamerica published in 2014 by Banamex.[2][4]
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See also
References
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