Papier-mâché Sculpture

Oaxacan Inspired Papier-mâché Animal Sculpture

Have you seen the beautiful and uniquely designed Oaxacan animal sculptures? They are incredible and certainly deserve a looking at if you appreciate cultural art! These sculptures are created in Oaxaca, Mexico and were originally born from an artist named Pedro Linares who had dreams about these fantastical creatures. He decided to bring them to life many years ago and many artists have created their own interpretations since then.

Here I’ve created a creature inspired by a deer or stag with his large and beautiful antlers.

Oaxacan Animal Sculpture

Oaxacan animal sculptures are brightly colored, have many patterns and lots of their features are exaggerated such as their tails, hooves, snouts and ears. You really have to do a google search to see all of these incredible sculptures, they are carved from wood too and it’s just amazing how smooth and beautiful they turn out.

I also love making these with my students, there’s so many possibilities, they learn how to papier-mâché and it’s such a fantastic hands on project that keeps everyone engaged and excited. We first construct the armature with toilet tubes, scrap paper, newsprint paper and masking tape. I then make a glue and water mixture, we dip strips of newspaper into the mixture and then cover the entire armature like a mummy. Lastly it’s time to paint and add details!

Oaxacan Animal Sculpture

This is a great project that targets many skills and touches upon an aspect of Mexican culture, there’s so much for students and children to learn from creating a magical creature like this. Have your kids or students give their animal a name it’ll really bring the character to life and make it all the more special!

Oaxacan Animal Sculpture