These handmade ceramic Lupitas are about women.
Powerful women in complex circumstances.
Each Lupita is a Unique piece, expressing her own story.
Project background
Between the years 1999 and 2000, I participated in a design project working closely with the ‘cartoneros’ ( papier mache artisans) of Celaya Guanajuato. In their workshops, they made these traditional dolls named “Lupitas”.
Before I moved to the Netherlands in 2001 I made sure to bring a sample of some traditional Mexican items and a few small Lupitas travelled with me with the idea of one day designing something about them.
Later for my daughter’s 20th birthday, I wanted to give her a special present that would represent her so I made a ceramic Lupita doll representing Mexico that was hand-painted by a Delft Blue artisan representing The Netherlands.
During the making process, I wanted to learn more about these dolls and I bumped into the ‘Miss Lupita Project’ initiated in Mexico in 2010 by the visual artist Carolina Esparragoza. A few years later, inspired by her work, I made more earthenware dolls that were hand-painted by a group of women during the ‘Designing the Body’ project in 2018 in the city of The Hague, The Netherlands.
In 2020, two important events happened that impacted me. I watched a short documentary about ‘Las Rastreadoras’ and later in March the large women's rights protest initiated by the collective 'Las Tesis’ (Chile) that took place in el Zocalo in Mexico City and worldwide. These events produced me encountered feelings of frustration and inspiration which I started to express by painting this collection of 'Lupita' dolls.
The myths behind Lupita Dolls
The original ‘Lupita’ dolls are made of paper-mâché, hand painted, and decorated with glitter. The name 'Lupita' is short for Guadalupe. Their creation originated when expensive porcelain dolls were brought to Mexico from Europe and became very popular however, not all families could afford to have one so an affordable version of these dolls was born.
A few myths are heard about how these dolls were also used by adults for different purposes, for example; if a woman felt that her husband was being unfaithful, she would write the name of her alleged lover on the doll letting her husband know that she was aware of the situation. Other stories say that the dolls were used to advertise 'brothels' by displaying them in the windows indicating which women were available.
Today, these dolls seem to be forgotten and they are only produced by a few artisans ‘cartoneros’ in Celaya, Guanajuato, and Michoacan.
Source:
Esparrogoza, Carolina (2012). "Memoria del Proyecto Miss Lupita". Fondo Nacional para las Artes y Cultura (en español). Ciudad de México.
About this Lupita Collection
Every Lupita doll is made from earthenware ceramics and hand-painted with lead-free glazing. It takes at least two weeks to design and produce each doll. Every doll is unique, is signed, and has a certificate of authenticity.
This is a hand-made product so may have slight imperfections or variations.
Every doll is wrapped in eco-friendly bubble wrap and packed in a duster bag contained in a luxury cardboard box of 32 x 22 x 9.5 cm.
