Huichol Art

Huichol art broadly groups the most traditional and most recent innovations in the folk art and handcrafts produced by the Huichol people, who live in the states of Jalisco, Durango, Zacatecas and Nayarit in Mexico. The unifying factor of the work is the colourful decoration using symbols and designs which date back centuries. The most common and commercially successful products are 'yarn paintings' and objects decorated with small commercially produced beads. Yarn paintings consist of commercial yarn pressed into boards coated with wax and resin and are derived from a ceremonial tablet called a neirika. The Huichol have a long history of beading, making the beads from clay, shells, corals, seeds and more and using them to make jewelry and to decorate bowls and other items. The 'modern' beadwork usually consists of masks and wood sculptures covered in small, brightly coloured commercial beads fastened with wax and resin.  Wikipedia