Wood Alebrije Cat Figurine in Orange from Mexico, "Fiery Cat"

Working in the traditional style of traditional folk art alebrijes, Mexican duo Pablo and Lucy Mendez create this charming cat figurine. The cat is carved of copal wood, its black body hand-painted with intricate floral motifs and dots in fiery tones of orange.

Alebrijes are a fairly recent Mexican art form, attributed to Pedro Linares. Unconscious due to illness in 1936, he was presumed near death and yet his dreams were extremely vivid. He tells of a place where all was peaceful and quiet until all of a sudden there appeared a lion with an eagle's head, a rooster with bull's horns and a donkey with butterfly wings. They kept screeching "alebrije, alebrije!" and Pedro began running away. He encountered a man who told him it was not yet his time to be there are and he should continue running towards the exit. In this dream Pedro climbed out of a window and regained consciousness.