Ruddy Alexis Rodríguez, Mask Maker of Santiago

Since he was 13 years old, Ruddy Alexis Rodríguez has been making masks, a skill he learned out of pure passion for the art.

He’d run behind the devils in the carnival parties then spend endless hours in the mask-making workshops in the city in order to learn how to make them himself. He played with the mud and clay while learning to mold the faces from damp paper and glue. He was soon to become one of the most famous mask makers in Santiago.

A specialist in Pepines, La Joya and Pueblo Nuevo masks, he also makes purely fantasy ones for which he has won numerous national prizes.

It takes Ruddy 5 to 6 days, working nearly around the clock year round, to make one mask.

Starting in November until January, the number of hours he works increases even more as the demand multiplies as Carnival time comes closer.

Between the demands of tourism and Dominican Carnival lovers, he is guaranteed year-round work and income. Ruddy’s creations are also sought after to decorate people’s terraces, homes and other places.

The “lechones” or devils, who celebrate Carnival in the streets of Cibaena and Santo Domingo are his biggest clients.

Given a choice, Ruddy says he prefers the “fantasy” masks of his own creation and which are not subject to neighborhood requirements that have their own, distinctive devil design.

Sometimes the simplest can be the most difficult, Ruddy says. “To paint the horns so that they are shiny and smooth and without any irregularities can be more difficult than to make a large bouquet of small flowers,” Ruddy said as he showed the work in his studio.

Mask Maker of El Ejido

Ruddy lives in the El Ejido neighborhood although he was born in Los Pepines and therefore continues to refer to himself as a “Pepinero.”

In the modest home he shares with his wife and children, he also has a mask-making workshop.

Click here to see the Masks of Lechones

For more information about Carnival in Santiago, click here