| Reflections of Oaxaca Mexico and the art of Hojalata |

Pre Pandemic YB were lucky enough to be selected to be part of a three week long design based residency in Oaxaca Mexico. 

Developed by the British Council in partnership with Applied Arts Scotland in collaboration with Oax-i-fornia the programme requested a somewhat unique strategy ; rather than set up a designer/maker relationship in which the designers design and the artisans make this residency’s intention was to enrich what already existed by creating equal collaborative ways for making and thinking from concept through to production.

The opportunity funded one person from the YB duo , it was myself Clare Waddle who was to embark physically upon this journey.

After a long solo passage from my home in the rural Scottish Highlands , my family , its winter and snow covered sub zero peaks , three planes later the warmth of Oaxaca Mexico was in sight . Greeted by Raul Cabra multi disciplinary design eye & co founder of www.oaxifornia.org and true supporter of local artisans and their products I soon realised i was in fabulous hands.

A converted 200 year old stone hacienda in rural Tlacochahuaya , was to be home for the next three weeks.

I was equally as excited as I was nervous about the contract and brief to co produce two collections of objects in such a short space of time . It was pre arranged that I work in collaboration with the already established local Mexican artisan Fabian Pacheco , master of the art of  ‘ Hojalata ‘ . 

Hojalata is mexican tin art and one of Mexicos oldest crafts dating back to the 16th century . Often referred to as Mexican folk art whereby flat sheets of  tin are cut out,  punched embossed and soldered,  all highly decorative , typically depicting Mexican skulls , day of the dead figures , angels , iconic hamsa and religious imagery.

The idea behind this residency was to re-think traditional form, material and technique through experiment and play with an end goal that a unique collection of work that could be produced & commercialised by the artisan. T

This was no mean feat , how could I even begin to suggest alternative ways of application to such skilled working hands and interfere with an inherited craft passed to him from generations of family  .

I must admit to being a little scared at this point.

I began collecting information from hours of observation  , working in a very hot , small  corrugated tin workshop day after day, it fast apparent that this was the space in which I was clearly going to spend most of my time.

As the days passed we were growing more comfortable with each other , the language barrier became less of an issue as we discovered the best tool of communication … our making hands .

With this common tool we required few words as we made steady progression.

Observing what Fabian enjoyed , how he bent , how he embossed ,  I finally attempted  to learn and apply a few of his skills myself under his watchful eye . Our path gradually become apparent .

Fabians work was mainly decorative and non utilitarian . Me being me I couldnt help but think how to suggest a focus upon function . Over the coming days and weeks together we tried to apply his DNA and very traditional approach to making to a collection of utilitarian objects , some successful , some not so .

Together we worked upon re thinking his application and construction with a material he knew more than most.

Not keen at first fabian slowly embraced our journey impressing both himself and me daily. 

We constructed basic moquettes from what we had at hand , these were not only a vision of what we were aiming to create but our tool for dialogue given neither of us were proficient in each others language ,  to me this was more poignant than the finished object itself.   

Inspiration for this particular collection took the form of the humble yet almighty tortilla .

Slowly week by week the required body of work was emerging combining Fabians traditional decorative skills with function , a different purpose and one he had not previously considered.  

We continued to experiment and play fusing embossing and tin construction skills with the introduction of copper and wood . Days of cutting , and embossing in immense heat finally lead us to harmony and a collection of utilitarian objects . 

The artisan holds all rights to further production and I am told Fabian holds this experience as close to his heart and making practice as I do .