Oaxaca is a poor town in the southeastern region of Mexico. Most of the woodcarvers live in one of three tiny villages just outside of the city. They are subsistence farmers who carve when there is no work in the fields. Few of these people have plumbing, and most of them believe in witches, says Barbash. Yet, in the midst of poverty, this town is enjoying some prosperity because of the American consumer's interest in the carvings.
Jimenez, the father of Oaxacan folk art woodcarvings, was a difficult artist who was somewhat of a self-proclaimed genius, according to Barbash. Everyone lived off his initiative, Barbash reported Jimenez as saying. Jimenez did have a point, because without his style of woodcarvings, Oaxaca would not be famous as it is today. Even Jimenez himself was shocked to learn that hundreds of woodcarvers had adopted his style. American folk-art collector Arthur Train discovered Jimenez, and sold the woodcarvings in his store in Oaxaca in the 1970s. When collectors such as Nelson Rockefeller and folk art museums purchased Jimenez's carvings, that established Jimenez's reputation and created an interest in Oaxacan woodcarvings. Just after Jimenez became known, so did Epifano Fuentes, who also taught his family to carve and paint.
The woodcarvers of Oaxaca who were born prior to 1950, grew up poor with not enough food to eat. They mostly lived in leaky huts. Now, whole families can earn a living in Oaxaca by carving. Generally, the fathers and sons carve and the mothers and daughters paint. The small children and the elderly family members, sand. When families work this way, they earn the equivalent of an elementary school teacher, says Barbash.
Oaxacan woodcarvings are shaped in the form of devils, angels, mermaids and skeletons. Animals are a dominant theme as well, and you can find carvings of dogs, cats, rabbits, chickens, lizards, and animal people, called "nahuals." The pieces are whimsical and often humorous and are painted in a wide array of brilliant colors.
The men of Oaxaca once viewed carving as unmanly and feminine, sort of like pottery-making. Woodcarving is now a much-honored and revered pursuit in Oaxaca for both men and women. In 1991, "Smithsonian" magazine featured an article about the Melchor family, Oaxacan woodcarvers. Being in the "Smithsonian" chronicles Oaxacan folk art as an interesting and important art form.