Pre-Hispanic and colonial traditions combine in Mario’s uniquely Mexican artworks

From his family workshop in the town of Pátzcuaro in the Mexican state of Michoacán, Mario Agustín crafts religious icons and lavishly adorned plates from organic materials. Using local plants, mineral soil, cochineal insects and even cow urine to create unique materials and brilliant pigments, his crafts combine indigenous techniques dating back as far as 500 BCE with methods from the colonial era to create distinctly Mexican works of art. Part of the Mexican director Mariano Rentería Garnica’s Mexican Handcraft Masters short documentary series on artisans in Michoacán, this short portrait captures how Agustín keeps inherited knowledge alive through his work.