t
L.
anya’s world
a scrapbook o f
a $50,000 prize. Along with new tools and
equipment, it bought her soul-satisfying
sojourns to weaving villages in Oaxaca and
Chiapas, Mexico, where she immersed her-
self in traditional culture and techniques.
“It was getting in touch with my roots,
and what craft is about, you know? There’s
all the experimental and tech-y stuff that
you’re exposed to at school. But what I’m
really attracted to is working with my
hands, and connecting with others who
work with their hands. Just being with real
people who are working for a living.” She
has since launched Artists Helping Artisans,
a program aimed at developing economic
opportunities for craftspeople in marginal-
ized communities in Mexico and beyond.
Aguiniga will soon be filmed for a seg-
ment of the PBS series
Craft in Am erica.
The show’s producer, Carol Sauvion, sees
this young artist’s activism as a compelling
part of her story. “Personal experience has
formed her into a humanitarian,” Sauvion
observes, “a conscientious contributor to
the solutions we need for the problems the
world is facing now.”
While her social conscience has richly
informed her creative work, it has also caused
her to struggle with the notion of art for art’s
sake. “M y family have all been working peo-
ple,” Aguiniga reflects. “The entire time I’ve
been doing furniture, I’ve been fighting the
urge to make sculptural pieces.” Lately, she’s
feeling freer. “I’m a little more O K with not
having to talk about border issues through my
work. You know - like it doesn’t have to all be
about me. It can be about pure beauty. Or
exploration of materials - bringing crafts to
the attention of this public that’s used to a
different side of me.”
+
aguinigadesign.com
Joyce Lovelace is
American Craft’*
contributing editor.
Right: Boing-y
Lowrider Stools
of
Baltic birch ply-
wood, auto lacquer,
upholstery springs
and vinyl tubing
look ready to leap
into action.
054 american craft apr/may 11
Aguifiiga’s
Seating
Trays
of plywood,
walnut veneer, cast
silicone and felt do
double duty and
stack easily to stow.
Left: The glass top
of the
Mono Table
(2002) rests on four
loops of Italian
bending poplar.
Below: Aguifiiga’s
stash of yarn, felt,
and other textiles in
her studio.
Left: Aguifiiga
keeps these fanciful
goats in her studio;
they were made
by women in
Mexico with whom
she worked.
__ LV
v & F
Above: The
Hole
Table
(2005), 40
inches in diameter to
seat four, ensures no
errant crockery goes
sliding off the
powder-coated
steel surface.
www.downmagaz.com
Photo: Douglas Kirkland
