Blind Mexican artisan causes a sensation at Christmas with her miniature nativity scenes

Although the eyes of the Mexican artisan Josefina Aguilar went out almost 10 years ago, her hands have not stopped molding the clay to make the miniature nativity scenes that in these Christmas They become essential in Mexican homes.

The woman, who lost her sight due to her diabetes, creates these figures to remember the biblical passage of the birth of Jesus in the style of the artisans of Ocotlán de Morelos, in the southern state of Oaxaca.

At 78 years old, Josefina refuses to leave the clay that since she was a child she learned to give shape, life and texture with the help of her mother.

“How wonderful it is when you start making things, it feels beautiful when you carve the clay and the figures come out. Now I don’t see them because I lost my sight, but to make the pieces my hands still run in the piece I’m doing”, the Oaxacan artisan explains to EFE.

An artisan guided by her hands

Guided by the memory of her hands, which now look out for her as they slide in the mud, the artisan shapes the faces of each of the characters that make up the traditional Christmas nativity scene in Mexico.

Inspired by the painting of the ‘Adoration of the Magi’there are the figures of the angel, the star of Bethlehem, the three wise men, a shepherd and, in the central box, Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus, a scene that is harmoniously recreated here in a box of less than 30 square centimeters .

The technique, known as polychrome clay, has been passed down to her nine children, including Demetrio Aguilar, who now supports his mother while leaving the amorphous pieces of clay in her hands for her to mold and insert with precision.

“All the pieces are handmade. There are miniature figures from two centimeters long,” comments the also artist.

Once the clay settles, the piece is placed in the oven for nine hours to continue the coloring process.

For this new birth, created from his mother’s hands, Demetrius chose red for Mary’s tunic, green and yellow for Joseph, white for the angel and an intense blue to set the mood for the night.

“This is a clay plaque that we made and it is a three-dimensional shape where we mix the paint with the ceramics to give the colors a little deeper, put some landscapes, mountains there,” explains Demetrio while painting.

Only one piece will remain unpainted: that of the newborn baby Jesus, which will remain the color of clay to give it the purity and tonality of the Oaxacan lands.

Because of all this care and wisdom, the crafts acquire a value that exceeds the economic value for this and other families in Oaxaca.

“Many people think that since it is a miniature figure it has a smaller value, and it is quite the opposite, a small figure requires more work than a large one, a miniature requires more elaboration, more attention and putting a little more detail into it, mainly on the face”says the man.

Behind each of these pieces there is more than a month of dedicated work and they cost more than 3,000 pesos (more than 150 dollars), an amount invested by collectors of Christmas representations who come to Oaxaca in search of a hand-carved nativity scene. in mud

The family workshop ‘Josefina Aguilar Crafts’ It is located at the entrance to Ocotlán de Morelos, located 30 kilometers south of the capital of the state of Oaxaca.