Mario lives with his wife and 3 beautiful children in a village above Oaxaca City, and he has been making animals for about 15 years. Mario's amazing lizards are good examples of why copal is so precious to Oaxacan artists: a very soft and light wood, it can be carved with incredible intricacy, yet it is also sturdy enough to withstand the test of time. 

Mario Castellanos

Mario's work is truly a labor of love; each one is intensively and pain-stakingly produced. There is no chance that any two of Mario's pieces would be identical. Part of his great accomplishment in this medium is the calibration of the figure's various parts. For instance, the gradual decrease in size of a tail from start to finish, combined with its swirling, twitching movements, is an area where Mario displays all of his mastery. Mario's wife Reyna executes the extremely fine brushwork with a sense of calibration perhaps equal to Mario's.

Mario has a considerable following in Mexico and the USA, but generally does not travel or do museum shows.

As the precious copal wood, treasured by Oaxacan mastercarvers, becomes more scare, and more frequently hoarded, Mario's pieces have somewhat diminished in size. If you a looking for a really large Mario iguana, we still have a few left, in great colors, with elaborate tails, and of course the famous & difficult crooked feet. These are sure to increase in value with time!

Click on images to view larger size.