It is very difficult to speak of a master work, not because there is no such thing, but because when speaking of them we necessarily establish a series of preferences and expectations regarding a style and era. That is, by indicating a master work, we indicate what seems to us to be the goal of a style. In spite of this, it is worth highlighting some works in which the potentialities of a style seem to be fulfilled.
This piece is typical of the Mezcala tradition, but at the same time, a very singular piece. We look at it and realize that there are no signs of percussion, which would be impossible to hide in a such a small sculpture, and this is due to the fact that the final forms have been obtained through a process of constant polishing due to the friction of different agents. Sometimes this procedure is known as polishing through wear. Even the deep cut that allowed the lower lobe of the stone core to be divided to obtain the shape of the stones, was made through a process of continuous friction.
It is possible that the edge of a different rock was first used to cut a groove into the area, but thereafter a string tightened into a bow must have been used, like to a saw, to shape, define and round the legs. Finally, it is probable that wet sand was used to clean and polish the finished piece.
This piece seems to synthesize two latent tendencies of the Mezcala tradition. One seeks a certain bulging, a certain roundness, and the other is so geometric that it is almost depicted with straight lines. We further infer the pentagon forming the head of this figure, but its angles have been limited and the lines tend to curve. The grooves that form the arms and the one that separates the mouth from the nose create curved cavities. As for the legs, the artist seems to be content with the curvature produced by polishing the groove, and even opted to round the outside of the legs.
The expressive force of this figure seems to lay, at least in part, in the tension that is created between apparently opposite strategies. A rectilinear scheme is used, but the lines become soft and rounded. There is strong abstraction, but at the same time the artist recovers details, such as the design of the ears, a crease that suggests a frown, a certain bulging toward the bottom of the volumes that form the arms, which allude to the presence of hands.
It is very difficult to speak of a master work, not because there is no such thing, but because when speaking of them we necessarily establish a series of preferences and expectations regarding a style and era. That is, by indicating a master work, we indicate what seems to us to be the goal of a style. In spite of this, it is worth highlighting some works in which the potentialities of a style seem to be fulfilled.
