Preserving a life culture

Nob Hill shop celebrates the magic of Mexican folk art

by LORINDA TOLEDO

Known for hand-made ceremonial masks and Day of the Dead art, Masks Y Más is proving itself an aptly named boutique.

Expanding every year since its opening in 2002, the Nob Hill shop at 3104 Central Ave. S.E. balances traditional Mexican folk art with new technology – now boasting custom embroidery and a fine art printing facility. These days, that facility is where owner Federico “Kiko” Torres spends most of his time.

RSPhotog.com

Owners Kiko Torres and Tara Green show off two of their favorite masks in their Nob Hill shop.

“We've been growing, and so I figured I would try to provide a service because that's where the niche is,” Torres said.

His partner, Tara Green, handles sales and customer service.
“There is really no way to generalize our clientele,” Green said. “We have all ethnicities, we have tourists from all over Europe, we have people from all over the United States.”

Green said there is no other shop like Masks Y Más (“masks and more”) in the state.

“There are other stores that sell similar things, but we have the biggest and best selection,” Green said.

Green said where some stores might carry 10 Katrina dolls – one-of-a-kind terra cotta skeletal dolls – Masks Y Más sometimes carries hundreds. The walls are filled with of colorful masks, hand painted or decorated with real hair and animal horns. That's because Torres travels to Mexico once a year, handpicking the items he wants and shipping them across the border by the truckload.

“There are different regions [of Mexico] and different types of masks that come from those different regions,” Torres said. “Depending on where they are from, they are made out of leather, wood or clay.”

Masks and other artwork range from $17 to $1,800. But the merchandise goes well beyond that, with postcards starting at 99 cents.

In its first year of business, Masks Y Más achieved $25,000 in gross sales.

That number grew to $167,000 last year, and with the new services, Torres expects 2008 to be significantly more profitable.

“All the money that the store generates, I put it right back into the store,” Torres said.

Torres has begun making print ads and posters for local businesses. He has also made movie posters and provided set décor for several productions being filmed locally.

Masks Y Más graphic design services start at about $40 per hour. Digital services such as photo restoration range from about $15 to $40 per item.

Torres produces high-quality, limited edition giclée prints – paintings that are digitally reproduced – using an Epson 9800 printer. Printed on canvas or cotton pulp paper, the artist's brush strokes appear to have the same depth and texture as the original.

Giclée prints range from about $13 to $15 per square foot.
One of several local artists who work with Masks Y Más, Brandon Maldonado praises Torres and Green for their work ethic.

“At Masks Y Más, I know that they'll always take the time to look at everybody's stuff,” Maldonado said. “It doesn't mean they'll buy it, but they'll at least look at it, and that's really great and really rare.”
Torres also buys the rights to some of the work created by artists such as Maldonado so he can print the art exclusively.

“Our T-shirts are pretty much the No.1commodity here,” Green said. “People love the T-shirts, and the store owns the rights to over 100 different designs.”

As their business grows, Torres and Green plan to expand their apparel line later this year. Green is designing jeans with customized buttons and folk art-influenced embroidery.

Originally from South Texas, Torres credits the existence of Masks Y Más to his parents, Eliseo and Nieves Torres. Both work at the University of New Mexico. Eliseo Torres has studied the Mexican art of curanderismo (natural healing) for more than 20 years, and the family often traveled in Mexico and Guatemala when Torres and his sister were growing up.

“The store is educational and is also part of a life culture that is still being lived in certain parts of Mexico,” said Eliseo Torres, who is also vice president of student affairs at the university.

“Some of the native Mexicanos that live in some of the villages are still using ceremonial masks,” Eliseo Torres said. “It has meaning in their life.”

Kiko Torres discovered his passion for Mexican culture when his parents offered to send him to Mexico City for a two-week intensive Spanish class. He ended up staying for two-and-a-half years, attending business school at Monterrey Technical College in Mexico City.

“I had my own collection of masks, so I started traveling around figuring out where these different masks come from,” Masks Y Más’ owner said.

After graduating from the University of New Mexico in 2000 with a B.A. in Latin American Studies and a minor in business, Torres worked in advertising at Univision and then in finance at Wells Fargo Bank. He said his experience in those areas has proved valuable to him, teaching him how loans work and how to advertise his business.

And the results are noticeable. Torres is now looking for a bigger space to house Masks Y Más.

“The store is banging,” Green said. “The TV ads really blew away [all other advertising]. I would come to work and there would be people outside waiting to get in.”

Written May 1, 2008

Go to Top