Alebrije

Alebrijes are brightly colored Mexican folk art sculptures of fantastical creatures. The first alebrijes, along with invention of the term, originated with Mexico City artist Pedro Linares. Linares often told that in the 1930s, he fell very ill, and while he was in bed, unconscious, he dreamt of a strange place resembling a forest. There, he saw trees, animals, rocks, clouds that suddenly turned into something strange, some kind of animals, but unknown animals. He saw a donkey with butterfly wings, a rooster with bull horns, a lion with an eagle head, and all of them were shouting one word, "¡Alebrijes!, ¡Alebrijes!". Upon recovery, he began recreating the creatures he saw in cartonería, a papercraft consisting of strips of paper and glue on an armature.

Melon Marzal

Familiar

Once a marzal ripens, it behaves more like an animal than a plant. Ripe melon marzals will uproot from their parent plant, travel great distances, then burrow to become a new plant.

1000

Frida Kahlo

Prickly Strangler

Familiar

It's pointy, poisonous, and venomous; the perfect friend.

1950

Diego Rivera