Tucson, Arizona

8 ½ Inches (excluding hair), painted wood (desert willow) with horsehair. Undanced.

This mask was signed and dated by Luis Valenzuela in 1997. Luis is a Yaqui Indian who has lived in Tucson for many years. Having studied at the Chicago Art Institute, he is known in the area as an artist. Furthermore, he seems to approach mask carving more from the perspective of an artist, rather than as a native carver. The masks that he has been making in the last year or so may look a bit more refined than this one, but they are very undeveloped in back, not properly carved out, no vision holes for a dancer to see through. In contrast, this mask has a proper back and vision slits, and a dancer could effectively use this mask, although they would probably sand the back first. Earlier masks by Luis Valenzuela, such as this one, are not commonly for sale, and I not sure how my friend Gary came to own this mask.