Elementary students recently completed an elaborate project where they took inspiration from Mexican folk art sculptures called Alebrijes. The tradition of Alebrijes reportedly originated with an artist named Pedro Linares, who saw visions of the fantastical creatures in a fever dream.
Linares began sculpting the creatures from his dream, and his family continues the tradition to this day. Students learned in an interview with his grandson, Ricardo Linares, that he tries to incorporate three of the four elements (earth, fire, air and water) into his Alebrijes.
Each student’s sculpture includes some of the same elements. According to Linares, a spike or a viper tongue might represent fire, scales or crests might represent water, wings represent air, and any element of a land dwelling animal would represent earth. The students used these ideas as a guide in designing
their sculptures.
This process required a lot of patience, care, imagination and perseverance. These artists met this challenge and exceeded it! They should be very proud of themselves and their work.
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