Rainforest Masks Displayed at Selby Gardens
From the shadows of the tropical rainforests, the Borucan Indians of Costa Rica are crafting a new art form with ancient roots, Rainforest Masks are on exhibit at the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, in Sarasota,  from now through April 26.

These brightly-painted masks are carved from a single piece of balsa wood and represent the brilliant flora and fauna of the Costa Rican forests.

Three of the Borucan artists -- brothers Francisco, Neftali and Pedro Rojas Morales -- will be at the Museum of Botany and the Arts in the Mansion at Selby Gardens to demonstrate how they carve and paint the masks and will answer questions about their work.

Neftali demonstrated how he starts carving a mask. "The outline of the animals or plants of the masks is drawn on a piece of balsa wood," he said.

Each mask typically includes the dark patterned face of a Borucan shaman or forest protector, surrounded by orchids, birds-of-paradise, neon-colored frogs, exotic toucans and quetzal birds, and often a jaguar. After the elements are sketched, they are roughed out and then more finely carved, with every piece rendered in 3D.

Francisco was daubing paint onto a finished carving. In Spanish, he said, "I use acrylic paints to paint them. It takes me about a week to make one mask."

Mask-making among the Boruca predates the Spanish Conquest. The art form evolved with mask-making to celebrate "Danza de Los Diablitos" or Dance of the Devils, representing a stylized battle against European invaders in which the Boruca emerge victorious. They use locally grown cedar or balsa wood, a renewable resource found in the forests near their homes.

The ancient craft, however, was dying until one master carver, Ismael Gonzalez Lazaro, began a program to teach the techniques to younger members. Soon, the young carvers began filling out their masks with the beautiful plants and animals that surround them, and thus was born the hybrid "masca ecologia" -- ecological mask -- that is much admired today.

Marilynn Shelley, Selby's manager of community education and exhibits, said, "The rainforest connection really makes sense for us because part of Selby's mission is the conservation of epiphytes, especially orchids and bromeliads, and their natural habitats. These ecological masks help make people aware of what's happening to the world's rainforests, that they are quickly disappearing along with many of the plants and creatures that inhabit them."

The masks have become so popular that they now command several hundred dollars each. Masks will be available for purchase during the Selby exhibit.