Papel Picado
In Mexico, one can find papel picados in restaurants, village streets,
fiestas, and papelerķas costing only a few pesos. Papel picado in Mexico is
similar to making paper snowflakes here. It probably originated from the Otomi
culture of central Mexico and was merged with the European cut paper arts
brought by Spanish conquistadors.
Museo Franz Mayer was one of the earliest paper artists dating back to 1833.
His banners and borders had images of fruit, flowers and fountains.
Special chisels, punches, and a hammer are the instruments used to make traditional papel picados. Tissue paper or metallic foil paper is used. Up to 50 sheets are carefully and evenly placed together with a heavy wooden board or lead plate underneath. A stencil of the pattern is placed on tops and the sheets are secured by nails in the corners.
The hammer strikes the chisel to make the
impression on all 50 sheets. Flowers, foliage, birds, angels, crosses, skeletons
and historic figures, as well as words or phrases associated with specific
holidays like Day of the Dead are used in papel picados. Borders may be
straight, scalloped, zigzagged or fringed. Each papel picado artist needs a keen
ability to envision the use of negative space in creating their works of art.
Bandarillas are paper cut banners attached to sticks to make a flag or used as a banner.
