Baja California

Furniture Makers in Baja California Combine Tradition, Design and Innovation With their Work

Meet three of the exhibitors at the Baja California Furniture Show 2016 at the Baja California Center.

Couches, tables, lamps, decorative pieces and a myriad of objects currently rest atop the Baja California Center floor as part of the Baja California Furniture Show 2016, all of them different, each with a style of their own. And even if they are inanimate objects, behind each is the story of its creator.

Tradition

Luis Rico, a man that's graying early, is the man behind a little gray marble and metal table, who draws attention to himself with a burning decoration atop of it.

Before furniture, the Rico family went looking for the American Dream working odd jobs here and there. That's where they found out about North Americans' taste and fascination for Mexican furniture, a trade and business that they slowly slipped into.

2016 is the 20th anniversary of when they first started using marble, granite, metalwork and wood to build furniture in their family-owned business in Rosarito, named Exotérmica. "We lived through the golden ages and dark times", so tells Rico, hands in his pockets. "It's very unlikely that kids will show interest in the same thing you do", he explains about his children all being interested in other careers.

Innovator

Such was not the case of Ossiel Calvillo, who thought that his decorative wooden lamination business of over 30 year was headed in the same heirless direction. That was until his daughter Sandra showed interest in making new products from the wood scraps of his father's work: Rustic style furniture made with recycled materials.

Sandra and Ossiel's business jumps between Los Angeles and the old Tecate highway which leads to Baja California region Valle de las Palmas. Each trip ended the same: Famished, lots of pending work and only 5% battery level in their phones. It was in an obligated restaurant stop where Sandra had the idea of racks with electrical plugs.

"I was always a little irritated that there were neither chargers nor racks to hang your handbag at restaurants", the bespectacled woman says; she is now the vice-president of his father's business, Ossiveneers.

Mr. Ossiel appreciates that her daughter kept her interest for the family's business, but he confessed that some time is still needed to wrap his head around new ideas.

Artist

Speaking of unusual ideas, the highlight of Baja California's first furniture show is the work of Edgar Lamas, who assumes the role of a furniture maker but could never hide his artistic sensibilities.

Lamas arrived to Tijuana at 10 years of age, mentioning his birthplace with a mumble because he identifies as a Tijuana native, despite being born elsewhere.

His pieces are a combination of art and craftsmanship, mixing wood and metal, which he defines as "exotic". He says there is no name for his technique, merely equating it to jewelry making.

Before his introduction to the furniture industry, Lamas had a longstanding fascination with car and motorcycle paintjobs. In the end, everything he learned from that traded was applied to his furniture pieces.

"When I was with the experts, they told me I wouldn't make it, but that's what inspired me", says the artist about his 15 year in this specialized work field, where he puts 300 to 500 hours of work into each piece.

Just like most original creations of this kind in Baja California, Lamas 'furniture-art' is on high demand by American consumers. "It's amazing how you can be better known for your work outside of your homeland than in it", he said. Nevertheless, he doesn't deny the possibility of getting his work known around Baja.

Photographs by Daniel Esparza

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miranda.garcia@sandiegored.com

Translated by axel.alcala@sandiegored

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