Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas is famous for a delicate, hair-thin hand-spun cotton thread known as petet (or petete). Artisans prepare this ultra-fine yarn by unspooling and starching the fibers in a corn-and-pine boiling mixture, which gives the fragile thread the strength needed for complex manipulation. This traditional starching prevents the threads from breaking or fuzzing during production, yet the finished fabric softens remarkably after its first wash. The resulting petet yarn enables weavers to produce a signature open-weave gauze textile that is exceptionally lightweight, breathable, and cool—ideal for the hot tropical climate of the region.
The actual creation takes place on a traditional back-strap loom, where artisans use body tension and wooden rods to meticulously interlace the threads. Weavers incorporate ancestral Mayan motifs—such as geometric diamonds, zigzags, and natural elements like corn plants or the spiky morning star—into the fabric using intuitive color combinations and brocade techniques. Passed down through generations, this slow, highly skilled process transforms raw cotton into wearable cultural identity, with each lightweight garment reflecting both ancient history and the daily agricultural life of the community
Cotton Huipil by Mariela Vásquez Hernández
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
MARIELA VÁZQUEZ GONZÁLEZ
Mariela Vázquez González is a celebrated young master artisan from Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas, who represents the brilliant future of the region's ancient Tzotzil (Totik) textile heritage. As the granddaughter and protégé of the legendary, award-winning weaver Carmen Vázquez Hernández, Mariela inherited a profound multigenerational legacy of craftsmanship from a young age. Under her grandmother's strict guidance, she mastered the grueling, ancestral petet technique—a meticulous process that involves hand-spinning local cotton, starching the delicate threads in corn atole to withstand the friction of the loom, and executing the highly complex gauze-brocade weaving method. Through this intense training, she has become an expert in translating sacred Mayan cosmologies into breathtaking, translucent textiles.
Today, Mariela has stepped firmly into the national spotlight as a cultural ambassador and an elite artisan in her own right. Her exceptional skill was cemented when she won Third Place at the prestigious XIV Concurso Nacional de Textiles organized by FONART, proving that the painstaking traditions of her ancestors remain vibrant, competitive, and revered. Alongside her grandmother, Mariela works tirelessly to bridge the gap between historic preservation and contemporary fashion, representing her community at high-profile international forums and museum exhibitions. By ensuring that the immense labor and artistry of Venustiano Carranza are recognized as fine art by global collectors, Mariela stands as a vital pillar in keeping her family's luminous textile legacy alive for generations to come.
ABOUT THE MAIZE DESIGN
In Maya culture, corn (maize) is not merely a dietary staple but a sacred, living element interwoven with human creation, as the Popol Vuj teaches that the first humans were formed from ground maize paste. This profound spiritual connection manifests directly on the backstrap loom, where corn serves as both a literal tool and a symbolic motif. In traditions like the petet technique of Venustiano Carranza, Chiapas, weavers physically boil delicate cotton threads in a dense corn starch (atole) to fortify the fibers for weaving—a ritual process that mirrors the structural creation of human life. Simultaneously, images of corn stalks, ears of maize, and the agricultural milpa are intricately brocaded into the textiles to invoke fertility and abundance, often referred to by weavers as the "red tree" to protect the sacred crop from spiritual harm.
