"My art strives to be a testimony to history and tradition.... One of my proudest moments was receiving the Vizcardo & Guzmán Medal as a master artisan, awarded by the Peruvian Congress."

Born in Apurimac in 1965, Edmundo Contreras Aquise works in the andahuaylino (Andahuaylas) style. He uses painted glass and crackled finishes in a technique that is both traditional and modern. His motifs range from the pre-Hispanic, colonial, and ethnic to the beauty and culture of the Andean world and its wildlife.

"I inherited my interest in art from my mother, a weaver," he says. "As an adolescent, I enjoyed painting and liked to create ...

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