(Paper kite - Oaxacan idol)

Francisco Benjamin Lopez Toledo

In 1998 Francisco Toledo collaborated with the Papel Arte Finlandia to found the paper-making cooperative Taller Arte Papel Oaxaca, a workshop and creative space for the community of San Agustin Etla, Oaxaca, housed in an old federal building that the artist purchased and later donated to the municipality. Toledo's aim was to revive interest in cultural traditions and provide employment through handmade paper and paper crafts, using only local natural fibers and mineral dyes. It soon became the catalyst for the reforestation of the Oaxacan land.

This kite features a mythological figure much like a merman. Close inspection of the surface of the kite shows a rigid outline of the figure as well as raised lines providing the fine deatails. We suspect the figure may have been cut from another material and used as a stencil, which was impressed into the paper as it dried. The paper was then airbrushed using natural mineral pigments, and the stencil was then lifted, leaving negative space for the form. The edges of the paper were then folded around a matboard "frame" and a paper tail was attached with a string.

The kite's tail is cleverly folded and held in an origami-style paper wrap to keep it safe for transportation. When extended, it measures approximately 2 feet long. Toledo began his paper kite project in 1998 to raise funds for the workshop, and they soon became a regular part of his artistic path, becoming a vehicle for the expression of his sociopolitical beliefs and inextricably tying him to the conservation of the natural world of Oaxaca.