Restoration project at North Riverside Park Mall shedding light on art from Mexico

CHICAGO (CBS)-- It's shopping with a lesson on art and culture.

An ongoing restoration project at North Riverside Park Mall is shedding light on a unique and vibrant art from Mexico.

Alejandro Camacho Barrera is an artist from Mexico City.

"He's very passionate about this career especially because it's something he picked," his translator Lorena said. "That he enjoys doing every single day."

But chances are, you haven't seen this type of art before. CBS 2's Mugo Odigwe spoke with Alejandro through a translator.

He came all the way to the Chicago area, to work on a project at North Riverside Park Mall.

"He's very excited to be able to spread the art form with the rest of the community," Lorena said.

This art form is called cartoneria. It's a Mexican tradition of making three dimensional sculptures with paper-mache.

What Alejandro makes is known as alebrijes. It's a type of cartoneria that showcases giant fantastical creatures.

He begins with a wire frame that gets covered with eight layers of paper, followed by seven layers of paint.

"It's very important to be able to feel the material to make sure that it's taking the right shape," Lorena said. 

Various artists from Mexico City first built these sculptures for a Mexican art exhibition in Cantigny Park last year.

But the elements took a toll on the paper and paste creations.

Now, some of those artists, including Alejandro, are back to begin the restoration process to fix any piece that's dulled and worn out.

Officials with North Riverside Park Mall say the idea is to give shoppers a look into a different type of art.

After their time here at the mall, the sculptures will move to a new home.

Some of them are going to a museum in New Mexico, some of them are staying in Illinois at a very large museum in Elgin.

For Alejandro, it's a passion project.

"He wants people to be able to come and see the finished pieces," Lorena said. 

Using his gift to teach others about his culture and a different form of art.

The artists are doing restoration work through the middle of April and the sculptures will be at the mall through May 7.