Aquí Se Hacen Santos
On the Cega riverbanks and in the heart of Valladolid's Tierra de Pinares, Miguel Ángel Tapia has his workshop. There he accumulates ideas, models, work, and experience. From there come different pieces carved by his hand for brotherhoods, parishes, and churches in Castilla and León region.
Once upon a time, they were Berruguete, Juni or Fernández, Solanes or Rincón. Nowadays, for the last 30 years, he has been one of the main people in charge of not letting die and even revitalizing the craft of Castilian imagery. The objective is the same as four centuries ago: to move feelings, touch souls, and shape images of faith. The tools and techniques are the same too. The passion and attention to detail, are intact, like the first day.
Miguel Ángel Tapia, master image maker, sculptor, carpenter, model maker, gilder and painter, tells us a little more about his world:
Hello Miguel Ángel. When did you know that you wanted to dedicate yourself to the art of carving and sculpting?
El más antiguo de los recuerdos que tengo sobre la madera, su comportamiento a la hora de cortarse, seccionarse, o tallarse es con 7 u 8 años cuando veía cortar, talar y “picar la leña”. Ver el hacha entrar en la madera me llamaba mucho la atención hasta el punto de meterme en una plantación de chopos y ponerme a talar árboles por el gusto de ver saltar las astillas. Luego en la escuela de arte de Valladolid descubrí la delicadeza y las calidades que se pueden sacar de este cálido material.
Do you have a favorite type?
The human figure with all its anatomy is spectacular for sculptural disciplines. Everything that can be developed, interpreted, created, and transmitted through the representation of human sculpture cannot be represented in other modes or types of art.
Within the imagery, the recumbent or crucified Christ, and images of Saint Sebastian, or Saint Jerome, are the ones that sculptors most enjoy representing, and the ones that have been used the most to generate devotion, feeling, or attraction.
With which master image maker would you go for tapas in Valladolid to talk about his work?
With Berruguete I would go for wines since he owned a winery, and he could also tell me something about Florence, where he stayed for a while. With Gregorio Fernández it would be incredible to be able to discuss common experiences. And with Juni, I would go to his workshop just to watch him work.
Also, two image makers that I admire, Esteban de Rueda and Sebastián Ducete, who worked in Toro and Zamora, probably know a lot about wines…
What is your favorite corner of the province of Valladolid?
I am still discovering the province of Valladolid and those towns where it continues to surprise me that in the 15th and 16th centuries, there were churches so rich that they have survived to the present day.
Furthermore, any place in the province through which a river or canal runs draws my attention, and within that, the Canal de Castilla is a monument and natural space that I love.
Artificial Intelligence applied to manual artisan work: useful tool or dehumanization of the craft? Do you have any opinion?
The moments in which devices such as the potter's wheel, the wooden wheel, the loom, the camera obscura, the stitching machine, and more modern inventions such as sewing, copying, or reproduction machines, both in 2D and 3D, appeared were important milestones and impulses for both crafts and art.
AI is a new tool available to anyone who wants to use it for productivity, creation, or design purposes. What intelligent tools are not going to achieve is the human aspect and character that the artist and the craftsman give to their pieces, imbuing them with that own style that each creator possesses.
Where are you most comfortable working: civil sculpture, liturgical carving, processional pieces...?
Each new project is a new experience, challenge, and learning, to which we can add the story behind the figure or character to be sculpted. This makes me enjoy from the beginning of the work trying to convey what it means.
Do you receive orders from abroad? Where is your furthest piece?
Although there is a lot of interest in my work in Latin America, most of my pieces are spread throughout Galicia, Asturias, La Rioja, Castilla y León, Cuenca, or Madrid.
You have been teaching for many years in different institutions. What is the most rewarding thing for you about teaching your subjects?
Well, perhaps the fact of seeing that the students follow you, course after course, in the training of carvings, cabinetmaking, and polychrome, and they do so with great enthusiasm to learn more about the trade.
Do you have any hobbies outside the workshop?
A pretty tough one: my veggie garden.
How do you see Spanish craftsmanship in the next 25 years?
With new technologies and the knowledge of current artisans, we are living in the best time to be able to ensure crafts, creation, and trades for a future in which creators can work with less effort than with what they have been learning, training, and making crafts.
The previous protagonist, María José Rubio – Historian and writer, left us this question for the next guest: What values do you think you transmit with your professional dedication?
Well, values are provided such as the training or dissemination of techniques, disciplines, trades, and artistic style with their own identity, something so representative of Castilla y León, and of the "School of Castilian imagery". Furthermore, within what the meaning of "imagery" entails, an attempt is made to convey a sentimental and devotional value, which each person will feel differently. Having been able to contribute or transmit my knowledge and my creations to different regions has been and will always be a great satisfaction for me.
Can you leave us a question for the next protagonist?
Sure, here it goes: “What were the reasons that led you to decide to dedicate yourself to your profession?”
