Plague

The Jacobo and María Ángeles workshop presents “Plaga”, a sharply reflective collection that dwells between the limits of what we consider beautiful and what we passionately reject as unpleasant.

The anxious or repellent effect commonly produced by insects considered pests is nullified by the meticulous details of Zapotec iconography, silver details and gold leaf finishes that adorn these crunchy bugs carved from copal wood.

The narrative in the work of Jacobo and María Ángeles in this exhibition reaffirms the uncomfortable engagement with the plague by contrasting the relationship between the forms of the beautiful and the repugnant that can be inverted according to the gaze of the beholder. With a double visual sense, the masters confront our notion of what is desired, what is beautiful, what we want to possess and what we want to be part of.

As small and insignificant as these beings may seem, they emerge from the corners as a big question that floods the room: Who really is the plague?

The masters Jacobo and María Ángeles have known how to decode the plague, making it appear now as an object of desire. Plague puts before us what we do not want to see and represents an intimate condition of the world without feeling or assuming the responsibility of coexisting with other species.

This collection, launched in 2021, is the first production in which three projects are integrated: Jacobo & María Ángeles Workshop made the wood carving, the decoration of the pieces and the application of gold leaf. Jacobo y María Ángeles Jewerly sculpted in silver the legs of the insects, and finally, Mogote high temperature ceramics elaborated the dung balls used for the installation of the pieces. This production was a great challenge that combined all the techniques and trades that are worked within the workshop Achieving it allowed us to grow exponentially in the conceptual, technical and professional conception of our projects.