Miniatures

I take on the concept of the tiny. The miniature is the product of the whim of the artisan. Small objects often become toys for children; their dimensions come into perspective for the child. Is playing with toys a rehearsal for adult hood? The sense of fun and whimsy gives the object life and encourages a sense of freedom.

“Mexico opposed the expression referring to a monumental spirit by taking pleasure in creating art in its most minute scale, the very tiny, product of the most detailed observation, in an extreme and trained technique of manual dexterity…
Mexican production of artwork on a reduced scale does not develop a feeling for decorative miniatures, as is the case in many ancient cultures or in worlds far distant from western influence. Nor is it directly related to the use of European miniature techniques, recreated in the ostentation of the medieval task of reducing the illustration to clarify the text. In Mexico there is a touching delight in the use or possession of something very tiny…”(29)
Sometimes I feel that there is a challenge in reducing the scale of imagery and structure. There is the ability to manipulate the viewer, to stop them and make them step up to the work, and to get very close to it and really look at it. The emotional response to such work is echoed in the above passage. When work is of a ‘hand held’ dimension I think that the urge to have that object is universal.

“ The well-liked art, repetitive and so full of meanings which are given to diminutive dimensions in Mexico, seems to become a part of the craftsman’s fingers when he creates art that revels in the minute details which require the use of a magnifying glass in order to be admired…How else can one explain the unique custom of dressing fleas? Or carving scenes in fruit pits? Or creating an orchestra, with its musicians and their instruments, none of them over two centimetres tall? What Lilliputian universe is present in the Puebla toy that features a showcase inside a nutshell? Why do Oaxacan women take such pains to include eyes on the tiny faces they embroider on a dress, when these cannot readily be seen by the naked eye?”(30)
Why do these artisans make such tiny, microscopic work? I assume from my own experience, that in the ‘tiny’ one can hide things and put secrets into objects. In relation to the Mexicans, their work is full of folklore, magic. Superstition and tradition. Above all their innate skill allows them the freedom and ability to fulfil such whimsical inspirations.