Origins

It is correct that some Oaxacan Woodcarvings are also known as ‘Alebrijes’ as it would be also correct to say that some woodcarvings are ‘Nahuales’. But it is a mistake to call all Oaxacan woodcarvings ‘Alebrijes’. Alebrijes refer to the fantastic animal figures made by Pedro Linares that were inspired by images he saw in fever dreams during an illness. Working in Mexico City, Linares already made large figures for festivals using lightweight papier–maché. The figures would be carried throughout a procession and were often burnt as part of the ceremony. To these figures Linares now added his Alebrijes. Importantly, these new works were also sold as much as used for celebrations. Alebrijes are not of Oaxacan origin  rather they have been adopted. Linares was championed by Diego and Frida Kahlo and so his work became more widely known.

Manuel Jimenez lived in San Martin Tilcajete,  far south of Mexico City. He is accredited for catalysing a new energy into woodcarving and this is  because of the 'success' of LInares. Manuel Jimenez saw in the work of Linares, the opportunity to expand on the limited way wood carving in his village was understood. But he did not require a new sense of the ‘fantastic’ as had Linares. Manuel simply returned to the established folklore in which humans possessed animal traits. 

The belief that man has spirit or physical links to animals is an ancient one and not exclusively Mesoamerican or Pre-Columbian. The Nahual (pronounced na'wall) is that spiritual or physical attribute in the person. A person’s birth date (in Zapotec tradition) signifies the animal whose spirit they possess – dog, donkey or a jaguar. A person becomes these – they transform (shapeshift) and can exercise their powers.  As these beliefs lessened so a Oaxacan farmer would carve a wooden animal for their children as much as a toy as in the belief that the child would possess its spirit or powers. They were good luck charms. 

If the fantastic visions of Pedro Linares and the equally fantastic world of the Nahual are subject matter for the Oaxacan woodcarver, then further resources lie in the remains of the cites of Monte Alban, Mitla and Atzompa. They lie in the carving that incises the stone architecture to form a continuous relief over its facades. These hieroglyphs form the basis for pattern making that the Oaxacan painter applies to the carving.

Another source of subject matter is the Catholicism that has overlain previous religious beliefs. The Church carvings of Jesus, the Madonna, Saints, Angels and Nativity are an inspiration for many of the wood carvers. Finally, it is the everyday life of the carver and his community that are subject matter of the works - the mundane as well as the extraordinary.