Raúl Pérez Méndez is only 25 years old and has a great future ahead of him. This young man from Garachico, a neighbor of the El Volcán neighborhood, is the creator of the nativity scene in the Plaza de La Libertad, which he began by making last year and which this year he completed with Their Majesties, large figures made of white cork, a material that master perfectly.
He likes to go to the plaza every day to see his work and listen to the comments of people who do not know him. Those who do know who he is greet him, congratulate him and praise his art.
As soon as it was inaugurated, a doctor approached him to tell him that he admired the hands of the Magi, because his veins and nerves were visible, as if they were real. “I like them to look at these things and more if a professional tells you, because it means that anatomically it is well done,” he confesses.
In addition, the hands are one of the parts of the body that he likes to create the most. He likes to study their anatomy, “because if they belong to older people, like the face, they have to have wrinkles and the muscles have to be in place,” he explains.
However, Raúl always begins by working on the face because his gaze, his expression, already indicates how the figure should be positioned. “I like to play with the movements and in the case of the Bethlehem, they all have a different one,” he explains.
Since I was little I used to take different materials to build things. Until he came to the family, the portal was not made at home for Christmas but his parents gradually bought him figures and he managed to assemble it with different pieces every year. At just 17 years old, he designed a float in a self-taught way for the lustral festivals of his town since he had not even begun his studies at the Fernando Estévez School of Art and Design.
At the end, he completed a higher cycle of sculpture but his specialization reached there because he immediately began to work and since then he has not stopped. Few have that luck and the clear ideas of wanting to continue training because they know that technology is also involved in art.
He began doing a job for the Santa Cruz City Council, a mule and an ox for the Plaza de España. Carnival pieces followed and his works are already invading other northern municipalities, such as Los Realejos or Santa Úrsula.
The Kings of Garachico have been designed since last year because the idea of the City Council is that the portal is increased and each year figures are added to the small gardens of the square.
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Raúl Pérez takes care of every detail in the pieces he makes, from the movement of the body parts to the clothing. Sergio Mendez
Until you drop from exhaustion
In August he began to sculpt them in his workshop, located in the garage of his house, from where he enjoys wonderful views of the sea and where he has hundreds of tools, cans of paint and varnish, and the drawings of his virgins hanging that he shows with pride. . He cannot calculate how long it took him to finish them because when he works he does not have schedules: “it is until the body can endure,” he points out. Nor does it explain how the creative process arises because it “comes out on its own.” There is no doubt, it is innate.
His work is his hobby. He does not spare the time he dedicates, he enjoys carving the pieces, choosing the decoration, perfecting every detail.
First draw a sketch, then a scale drawing and finally, another on the material you are going to work with, which is almost always white cork, which does not spoil and does not deteriorate in the rain but requires great patience and meticulousness. .
“The slowest thing is the finish because the cork has to be cut, brushed and sanded several times to make it as smooth as possible”, he explains.
Raúl sculpts piece by piece, which he joins with polyurethane foam and requires a different sanding as they do not have the same density. In addition, each one has three layers of paste that must also be sanded individually and finally, waterproof paints are added.
The decoration is on her own and she likes to make it as real as possible. That is why the fabrics, tassels and accessories that he chooses are of quality and there are pages who wear silk in their clothes. He likes to imitate that they come from the East, “not from a Carnival” and therefore, he tries to make the materials they buy seem from there, despite the fact that it is increasingly difficult for him to get them because he tries to buy everything he can in the Canary Islands. “Perhaps not all people realize these details, but the work is better finished,” he emphasizes.
The most admired of his work by the residents of Garachico is that the Three Wise Men are an exact copy of those seen on the day of the Parade, dressed exactly the same. And what looks like fabric is painted by hand, a job that is difficult to recognize with the naked eye.
His work reaches the Valley of La Orotava
This year, the sculptures of this white cork ambassador have crossed the borders of the Villa and Port and have reached other parts of the North of the Island, specifically, the La Orotava Valley.
In the Plaza de San Agustín, in Los Realejos, there are three different life-size camels with a “very fallero” design. Melchor’s is exhausted, allowing himself to sleep, Baltasar’s is lying on the ground and Gaspar’s, 3.30 meters high, is standing. Next to it is the mailbox where the little ones deposit the letter to ask the Magi from the East to make their dreams come true.
The young craftsman assures that “he suffered transporting them” to Los Realejos, dodging cables and the bridges between the two municipalities, “but they arrived whole,” he says smiling.
In Santa Úrsula, the train of fantasy and illusion of Christmas has its stop next to the town square, in front of the Town Hall. It is 5.30 meters long and has been attracting the attention of young and old for two weeks. It is made of wood with cork details, a faithful copy of one that was given to him when he was little and in this case, to build it, Raúl had the help of a carpenter.
It does not close to doing anything. She works for Carnival designers, costumes, molds nativity scenes and figures for private clients, paints posters, loves imagery and has a Dolorosa that she made at age 18 that goes out in procession on Palm Sunday.
He hardly has time to rest. These days he has to deliver a nativity scene and works for the Carnestolendas that have to be ready in mid-January.
His next challenge is to enter a Fallas workshop in Valencia. He knows that it is very complicated because the groups “pull” artists from there, but even so, he wants to try. “It is one of my dreams and although I work very similar to them, it is not the same to be in a workshop and to be taught their techniques. These people stick a year doing only one failure and I would love to know that way of working, “he says.
Wherever he goes, his work leaves a mark because it has magic. Perhaps you know it, but you blush when you predict that a great future awaits you in art. “I hope to continue having my feet on the ground, which is the most important thing,” he answers.
