About the Artist
"Pedro and Javier Gonzalez credit their paternal grandfather, Don Pedro Abilio Gonzalez Flores, for their success. In teaching his grandsons the art of making imagineria, the elder Gonzalez shared his love of the Peruvian heritage. For more than four decades, the Gonzalez brothers have been working alongside their grandfather in a workshop beside a creek near an ancient road in the village of Aza, in the central Andes."
"In ancient Peru, the serpent-shaped maguey was considered a sacred tree, touching both the world below and the world above. During the 16th century, when master saint-makers arrived in peru from Spain, the artisans sought ways to make their icons lightweight for transport. The many Indian artisans who were forced to serve as apprentices used maguey. A cultural syncretism resulted that combined the occidental saint on the exterior and the sacred soul of the ancient maguey within."
(From biography at Santa Fe International Folk Art Market, 2006)
