Jeronimo Lozano

Jeronimo Lozano learned the various folk arts of the Andes as a child in the village of Huamanga, Ayacucho, Peru. This area is rich in the traditions of the ancient Incan culture. Because of his interest in the arts, Jeronimo was selected to study art in different academies and at the School of Fine Arts at the University of Peru. For 12 years Jeronimo traveled and studied the traditional folk arts and dances of the Andes and in 1979 established the “Artist Workshop Guamangensis” in the village where he was born. Jeronimo focused on a craft called retablo, a combination of Incan and Spanish art traditions of pictorial scenes arranged in a single work to relate a mythical or historical drama. The retablo usually consists of handmade figurines, modeled and painted and contained in a box. Jeronimo also uses gourds, matchboxes, seashells, reeds, tree trunks, etc., as containers for his retablos. The original purpose of the retablo was to instruct, and Jeronimo continues the tradition by often depicting the struggles for independence and current political events of Peru, as well as the traditional village or religious scene. The Arts Council supplies an interpreter for Jeronimo’s residencies he requires tables, a hot plate and a sink. Jeronimo is available for short-term projects.