You’ve probably noticed that my Mexican collection is larger than the rest. Let me explain why.

As an artist, I first became intrigued with ethnographic masks because I viewed them as painted sculpture. Particularly, Mexican masks caught my attention because they were so creative, with their array of characters, colors and materials.

Masks are folk art, and folk art is supposed to be functional. However, the carvers of Mexico are obviously very interested in beauty and self-expression.

Their masks were also abundant and affordable compared to authentic African, Asian, Oceanic and North American versions. That was 30 years ago and not much has changed since then. Mexican masks remain plentiful and reasonably priced.

Mexican masks have maintained their appeal. They portray a vast array of characters including men, women, clowns, priests, devils, spirits, monsters, all kinds of animals and even skulls. The styles range from realism to abstract.  And the color palettes and materials are also diverse. In addition to carved wood masks, artists use paper-mache, cloth, leather, clay, wax, plastic and metals such as tin, copper and silver.

I’ve found that talent is not limited to professional carvers; villagers and farmers with little or no training often create beautiful work. The masks can be impressively complex or simple and even crude. In fact, some of my favorite Mexican masks resemble primitive stone-age artifacts.

Innovation is more readily accepted in Mexico. Adherence to artistic tradition is not as rigid as in other world cultures. When carvers fulfill the village’s demand for traditional characters, they often express their own creativity with variations on a specific theme. When they craft additional masks for sale at market, they infuse more self-expression into the masks, blurring the line between folk art and fine art. This is why Masks of the World devotes a special section to decorative (or tourist) masks, which are made for commercial purposes and don't necessarily follow cultural tradition. Purists may disdain them, but these decorative masks are sometimes the most artistic of all.

While "plentiful and reasonably priced" are not words the cognoscenti want to hear, museum curators and gallery owners are starting to deem Mexican masks as desirable. And I think we'll soon see the major auction houses doing the same. It seems the creativity that grabbed me thirty years ago has stood the test of time.