Tiburcio Soteno Fernandez and his family are among the main artisan families in the town of Metepec, specializing in popular handcrafted ceramic sculptures called Arboles de la Vida, or Trees of Life. Metepec is Mexico’s best known centers for producing elaborately designed ceramic handicrafts using traditional techniques to harvest, mold, and paint the clay.
Originally, Trees of Life were created to depict the story of Adam and Eve, in the garden of Eden. The trees are densely adorned with various symbolic shapes and figures, often including the story of a person’s life and death in a dazzling artistic display. Brightly painted and extremely detailed, each Tree of Life offers a unique journey into the mind and perspective of the artists and shares a personal story.
Tiburcio has won awards for his trees, with themes ranging from religious to erotic and with famous characters such as the Virgin of Guadalupe and Frida Kahlo. He calls his work arboles retablo,which translates to altarpiece trees. They range in height, sometimes towering over 10 feet tall. All components and figures are modeled by hand, rarely using any molds or wire. He uses aniline dyes to produce the brilliant colors that boldly catch the eye and inspring the mind.
Tiburcio’s nephew Oscar Soteno has also won awards and recognition for his work, including a Tree of Life he made to honor his grandmother, Modesta. Some of Tiburcio’s work can be found in the permanent collections of the British Museum, the Museum of Modern art in Scotland, the Lancaster City Museum and other museums throughout France.