Amatenango del Valle, Chiapas, México

Juana Goméz Ramírez is an artisan from Amatenango del Valle, in Chiapas Mexico. She is a celebrated artist in Mexico and is considered one of the 'Grandes Maestros del Arte Popular Iberoamericana'. Her specialty is 'Modelado y Poliocromado'.

Since the age of nine, Ms. Goméz Ramírez has been sculpting and painting on a clay known as "barro". She works in pre-Hispanic methods when working with clay, a tradition from the region where she lives. The clay is hand extracted from the mountains very early in the morning. The artisans dig three meters deep to get the best material and then prepared it by mixing it with water and soil, and then sculpt the next day.

After decades of work, Ms. Goméz Ramírez achieved national recognition with her now famous 'Jaguares'. Hand-sculpted and painted jaguars, known for their unique 'mechitas' or hand-drawn spots.

For Heirlome, Juana recreated her jaguars by using ink on a canvas draped dress. Her artwork was digitized to be reproduced in fine silk for Heirlome.