Bolivia's Alasitas festival is an Aymara tradition that goes back to ancient times. Alasitas, a word in Aymara that means “buy me,” is a fair of pre-Columbian origin where indigenous people exchanged miniatures, agricultural products, and circular stones of different colors. This exchange was carried out with joy and with the hope of obtaining these objects, life-size, during the year.
Today, thousands turn out to buy everything they wish to obtain in the coming year, in miniature form, in the hope that the gods will convert their dreams into life-sized reality. It is sort of like buying your wishes in hopes that this action, followed by a ritual, will bring your wish closer to reality. Aymaras had long ago invented the notion of the Wishlist through the imagery of miniatures representing the desired objects.
Following his Aymaran heritage, every year, Reinaldo Chavez creates a series of miniatures for Alasitas. The series is integrated by different thematic lines all presented in 10 x 10 cm paintings which are crafted with a layering technique borrowed from lacquer painting used in traditional Bolivian masks. Chavez was exposed to these techniques since he was a child, as he is de descendant from a lineage of traditional Bolivian craftsmen.
Altiplanic landscapes, monolithic faces, and urban landscapes, are first conceived on a textured surface upon which multiple layers of paint are carefully applied, without losing the spontaneity characteristic of Chavez´s works. The paintings are then lacquered to provide a translucent finish. This technique is a signature of Chavez´s work, as he is the only Bolivian plastic artist that has applied these traditional techniques in his paintings.
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