The sculpture acts as a sort of land acknowledgement wrought in steel: the Parasaurolophus is in the Hadrosaurus family of dinosaurs, which once roamed this region. The beadwork represents the people who traditionally occupied the land.
“I believe that time is not linear,” said artist Marianela Fuentes. “These beings were living in the same lands that we are now. So all the beadwork represents this time, and the dinosaur represents ancient times.” Artist Marianela Fuentes grew up in the state of Coahuila in northeast Mexico, an area rich in dinosaur fossils. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
The beadwork, resembling very floral tattoos, represent symbols and creation myths of the Lenni Lenape people, who worked with Fuentes to create the patterns by hand.
Fuentes is based in Mexico City and grew up in the state of Coahuila in northeast Mexico, where Parasaurolophus were plentiful. In prehistoric geological eras that region was part of an ocean. Now, as a risen seabed, it is one of the richest places in the world for dinosaur fossils. The sculpture, created by Mexican artist Marianela Fuentes, is covered in tiny beads depicting Native American themes. The designs on the head represent the universe. (Emma Lee/WHYY)
Prehistoric beasts have fascinated Fuentes since childhood, when her parents would take her to fossil sites. They have become a recurring influence in her sculptural work.
The bones of “Alpha Sacred Beings” are made from real archaeological casts at the Museum del Desierto, which has the largest collection of dinosaur bones in Mexico.
“I wanted to be an archeologist,” said Fuentes. “But I ended up doing sculpture.”
Every summer for the last…