IXTEC SERAP
INSTALLATION
THE
oil on canvas
works on paper
mixtec weavings
works on paper
IXTEC SERAP
mixtec weavings
PAINTINGS
IXTEC SERAP
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Woven by the native women of the sierra mixteca
historical
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Borofsky and the Mixteca
Scot Borofsky had already traveled quite widely throughout the country of Mexico, and Guatemala over a period of fifteen years, with recent trips to South America, from Venezuela to Peru, when he began to collect and to study the weavings of the Sierra Mixteca, an area of small villages in mountainous areas to the west of Oaxaca City, Mexico. Having seen and studied crafts and weavings from New Mexico to Bolivia and having a comparative knowledge of both contemporary Native American weaving and the history of it, the artist recognized the Mixtec weaving as one of the purest and simplest examples of traditional pattern making and design still alive in Mexico, coupled with an equally essential weaving technique -using the backstrap loom- in existance today in the Americas. The earthy palette of natural wool colors, combined with a warm color palette based on the colors of the Mexican flag, red and green, also appeal to the artist, both in a visual, sensual manner and because of Borofsky's love of "incidental and ironic" thought.
Stepped lines, geometric interlocking spirals and all the most basic typical horizontal patterning is used as a visual vocabulary by the female weavers, who under no pressure to sell their work, hold on to ancient design, while having a gift for experimentation and improvisation. The Mixtec women weavers raise their sheep; and collect and grind up a wild root, used as soap to wash the wool in the stream; they then card the wool with carders made of wood and nails; and spin the wool using only a small stick with a stone weight at one end and their hands; and finally weave their blankets and serapes on a loom system made with carved sticks of wood and a belt, tied to a tree or pole. The weavings are worn by their husbands who interact in town and thus the weaving ability and creative imagination of every married woman is projected into the community. The work of superior weavers and an interesting sense of visual invention are quite recognizable, as is the especially fine wool yarn they spin. The thread of ancient design is still developing in their weaving today, back in the forgotten pine forests of these corn and bean farmers, in the Sierra Mixteca.
For Borofsky, the Mixtec weaving seemed to capture all the things he loved most about pre-columbian design, as reflected in ceramics, architecture and weaving. Coupled with the earthy look of old Japanese crafts and made by an ostrisized tribe in a remote mountain area, the weavings and the people appealed to the Vermonter, who believes that "mountain people are mountain people".
Stepped lines, geometric interlocking spirals and all the most basic typical horizontal patterning is used as a visual vocabulary by the female weavers, who under no pressure to sell their work, hold on to ancient design, while having a gift for experimentation and improvisation. The Mixtec women weavers raise their sheep; and collect and grind up a wild root, used as soap to wash the wool in the stream; they then card the wool with carders made of wood and nails; and spin the wool using only a small stick with a stone weight at one end and their hands; and finally weave their blankets and serapes on a loom system made with carved sticks of wood and a belt, tied to a tree or pole. The weavings are worn by their husbands who interact in town and thus the weaving ability and creative imagination of every married woman is projected into the community. The work of superior weavers and an interesting sense of visual invention are quite recognizable, as is the especially fine wool yarn they spin. The thread of ancient design is still developing in their weaving today, back in the forgotten pine forests of these corn and bean farmers, in the Sierra Mixteca.
For Borofsky, the Mixtec weaving seemed to capture all the things he loved most about pre-columbian design, as reflected in ceramics, architecture and weaving. Coupled with the earthy look of old Japanese crafts and made by an ostrisized tribe in a remote mountain area, the weavings and the people appealed to the Vermonter, who believes that "mountain people are mountain people".
click on paintings to view separately
click on paintings to view separately