AMATE PAPER PROJECTS Amate paper cutouts Amate paper

AMATE PAPER PROJECTS
Amate paper cutouts
Amate paper paintings
Chantal Esquivias, PhD
Spanish teacher, Jr. High, North Davis Preparatory Academy, Layton
The amate paper cutouts are made by the Otomí Indians from the Sierra de Puebla.
The paper from which they are cut is made from the bark of the amate tree.
Strips of bark are boiled in a water and ash solution until they are soft. Then they are
laid, criss-crossed and overlapping on a smooth board and pounded with stones until
the fibers mesh together.
The paper has a beautiful surface and the texture of the bark shows clearly.
This is an ancient art dating from preColumbian times, when the paper was used for
clothing and later for keeping records.
The amate paper is now used to make symmetrical cutouts for magical purposes (to
protect crops, to rid a place of evil, to guard the home, or to bring health or illness –
to harm the adversary).
The designs frequently use human forms (which sometimes represent spirits) and
also reflect elements of nature that are important in the lives of the Otomí people:
- Agricultural plans
- Domestic and wild animals
- Birds.
The figures are not realistic and have added fanciful or symbolic ornamentation.
A common design often shows a standing man combined with animal or plant
forms.
Other motifs include the two-headed or four-headed bird of the mountain which
protects the home.
Bark cutouts are also used as tokens of gratitude to the earth for a good crop.
AMATE PAPER PAINTINGS
(Aztec language) Nahuatl: amatl: paper
In the mid 20th century the amate paper was adopted by Nahua
painters from Guerrero to create a new indigenous craft.
The Nahua people transferred many of their pottery painting designs
into amate paper. Paper was easier to transport to the local markets
than pottery.
The designs usually show: flowers, birds, animals, or scenes of village life
(weddings, etc).
They use brilliant , sometimes fluorescent, paint. The paintings are very
fanciful, flowers of many colors bloom from the same stalk, leaves may be blue
or orange as well as green, fancy birds have plumage never seen in the real
world, horses may be turquoise blue…
Sometimes the painting is surrounded with a border or geometric designs. The
background is never painted so the figures stand out against the rich brown,
beautifully textured hand-made paper.
http://prezi.com/abx4lpo4c85j/amatl-the-art-of-papermaking-in-prehispanic-and-nowadaysmexico/
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