#mexica
My painting Patlache or Owner of Wild Cacao is part of a series that explores queer identities in Mesoamerica.
Sources are scarce and contradictory, and little information can be obtained about sex and gender diversity in ancient times. However, there are few cases of what we would call today “queer” identities were registered in colonial manuscripts.
A patlache or owner of wild cacao is a word apparently used to describe a lesbian woman or a trans man. Here are two types of patlache sharing a moment of cacao collection.
You can find this painting as a print in my Etsy store! Click here!
My painting Xochihua or Owner of Flowers is part of a series that explores queer identities in Mesoamerica.
Sources are scarce and contradictory, and little information can be obtained about sex and gender diversity in ancient times. However, there are few cases of what we would call today “queer” identities were registered in colonial manuscripts.
A xochihua or owner of flowers is similar to a modern queer man and this word usually describes gay men.
You can find this painting as a print in my Etsy store! Click here!
This is my oil painting of Tonalco Tlaltecuhtli, the Earth during the dry season.
Tlaltecuhtli is the Earth Lord and the Earth Lady. She is the Earth itself; Her elbows, breasts, and belly are mountains, Her navel, the hollow of Her throat, the folds that wrap across Her stomach are valleys, and Her mouth and womb caves, entrances by which to enter her body. She is all abundance and all life, but likewise, She is the tomb who shall swallow us all in the end. We do not have four seasons in Mesoamerica, but rather two, Xopan or rainy season, and Tonalco or dry season. As Tonalco Tlaltecuhtli, Her body is painted yellow, to represent the yellow grass of Winter. She is dry, tired, and lacks the energy for growth and life.
I’ll be explaining more details about this painting in other posts!
Tlaltecuhtli will be on display at my upcoming show at Art Bug Gallery in LA! You can also find Her as a print in my Etsy store! Click here!
The yacametztli or Moon nose ring is an element of the regalia of the Pulque Lords. These deities are associated with darkness, humidity and the feminine side of the cosmos. The Moon incarnates the feminine principle, subtlety, fertility and cold, spiritual qualities found in pulque, which is seen as the milk with which the Earth feeds Her children. In the paintings of Pahtecatl, Lord of Medicine, and Ometochtli, Lord of Drunkenness, They both bear a yacametztli, symbolizing Their relation with the qualities of pulque.
The paintings of Pahtecatl and Ometochtli will be on display at my upcoming show at Art Bug Gallery. Click here to see prints of Them!
Cinteotl or Centeotl is the Lord of Maize, whose body is our food and our flesh. Centeotl is also the patron of cacao, the complementary opposite of maize. While one is a solar plant, associated with the Heavens, dryness and the masculine side of the cosmos, the other is a lunar plant, related to the Underworld, humidity and the feminine principle. This is why Centeotl is also the incarnation of duality and balance. Here I presented Him as Lord of the Plant of Cacao, which represented creativity, inspiration and sex.
This piece is part of a series that will be on display at Art Bug Gallery from April 23!
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This painting is part of the story of the creation of the Fifth Sun, which is the sun under which we live. The Lord of Snails and Nanahuatzin, the Syphilitic Lord, leapt into the Spirit Fire. The Lord of Snails grew afraid when he felt the extreme heat of the Spirit Fire, and held back. Nanahuatzin, however, fearlessly went forward and leapt into the heart of the Spirit Fire. The Lord of Snails, when he saw this, felt ashamed, and leapt also into the Spirit Fire, but even then, because of his cowardice, he leapt only into its coals and ashes, where he too was consumed by the fire. In honor of the sacrifices of the two Teteo, the jaguar and the eagle leapt over the flame, thereby proving their bravery and acquiring their stripes and spots from the smoky ashes of the fire. The sacrificed Teteo arose in the East as two great suns. The gathered Teteo threw a rabbit in the face of the Lord of Snails, thus dimming his brilliance and transforming him into the Moon.
This painting will be on display at Art Bug Gallery! You can also find it as a print in my Etsy store! Click here!
This painting will be on display at my upcoming show at Art Bug Gallery!
It represents the duality of life and death, one of the main concepts of Mesoamerican thought. Our ancestors did not see life and death as two different things, but as two faces of one same truth: that which is alive nourishes death, just as death gives origin to new life, in a neverending cycle.
If you are in LA, do come visit my show! It opens on April 23rd!
bMonkeys are animals associated with cacao and chocolate, and their relation was possibly expressed through a creation story that has been unfortunately lost to time. Depictions of this narrative, however, were preserved.
Since they are related to light-heartedness and sex, monkeys are linked to the aphrodisiac characteristics of cacao and chocolate. They are also nahualtin or spirit animals of Quetzalcoatl, Lord of Creation, who taught agriculture, writing and preparation of maize and cacao to the first humans.
This painting is part of a series of designs I made for a set of ceremonial chocolate vessels. It will be on display at my upcoming show at Art Bug Gallery in Los Angeles!
This mummy was found in the late 19th century in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is inaccurately known as the “Toltec mummy”. This preserved body is unique to Mesoamerican archaeology for it is the only one on which tattoos have been discovered. Although it was traditionally considered to be the body of a male governor, recent studies show it belongs to a woman, whose important role in her society is represented in her collection of tattoos. Some of these tattoos might symbolize water waves, and thus fertility and nurturance.
Tattooing was a common practice in the past, as evidenced by depictions of individuals with marks on their body, but examples of tattooed corpses are extremely scarce, as flesh and skin are rarely preserved. Here are some examples of sculptures and figurines of tattooed people.
The last image is a detail of my painting Le Nahual, in which a tattooed shaman transforms into his spirit animal. You can find this painting as a print in my Etsy store! Click here!
This is a xiquipiltontli or bag used by the danzantes for transporting offerings and other elements used in Mexicayotl ceremonies, such as flowers and copal.
Depictions of these bags can be found in sources as ancient as Olmec sculptures. They also appear in codices from the time of the conquest and are part of the ritual regalia of many contemporary indigenous groups.
You can see various models of this xoquipiltontli or bag in my Etsy store! Click here!
This is your last chance to see my show!
This week I’ll be hosting special events at Art Bug Gallery!
LAST DAY OF MY PRIDE SALE
Click here to see my Etsy store! There is a special 20% discount ending today!
We’re celebrating Pride Month!
I’m offering a special discount of 20% in my Etsy store! Click here!
The use of the word “queer” is not completely accurate to talk about the sexual preferences and gender identities of Mesoamerica. However, it is important to remember that a lot of what today we call “queer” was present in the societies of the past
The metztli or veintena of Huey Tozoztli is coming to an end. During its 20 days we celebrated the deities of maize, which begins to grow with the coming of the rains. Huey Tozoztli is dedicated to Cintéotl, Lord Maize, patron divinity of the fields, and Xilonen, Lady Tender Maize, who is the sprout that breaks the hardness of the Earth’s crust and grows towards the Heavens.
You can find elote or corn cob earrings of different colors in my Etsy store! Click here!
In this scene, Mayahuel, Our Lady Maguey, appears breastfeeding a plumed fish. It is a profoundly symbolic image which shows Her role as mother and nurturer. The plumed fish is a visual metaphor that alludes to Mimich, one of the most ancient divine ancestors of the Mexica. Lord Mimich was a chichimeca, part of a nomad group, and His death represents the foundation of the first villages and cities. The symbol of the plumed fish refers to preciousness, which can be found in the wisdom of our ancestors. The scene, thus, presents Mayahuel, the plant of maguey, as nurturer of humankind from the most ancient of times.
You can find prints of Chichimayahuel in my Etsy store! Click here!
Itzcuintli, the dog, is a symbol of bravery and noble-heartedness. One of its missions is to guide the dead through the dangerous paths of the Underworld, as well as to give their spirits to Mictlantecuhtli, Lord of the Land of the Dead. The dog is a nahualli or spirit animal of Xolotl, Lord of Dual Things, twin and shadow of Quetzalcoatl, the Plumed Serpent.
You can find xoloitzcuintli jewelry in my Etsy store! Click here!
The heart is the home of the teyollia, the heart-spirit in which personality, feelings and experience reside. The teyollia can take the form of a butterfly or a precious-feathered bird. These animals are in direct communication with the Sun, and, thus, with the energy that gives movement to the world.
You can find yollotl or heart earrings in my Etsy store! Click here!
Our ancestors believed that before the creation of this world and its Sun, there existed four eras with four different Suns. The third era, Nahui Quiahuitl, Four Rain, was ruled by Tlaloc, Our Lord the Rain, and ended with a rain of fire, which forced the people to flap their arms, turning them into turkeys. The turkey is one of the spirit animals of Tezcatlipoca, Lord of Darkness, who commanded it to feed humans with their flesh, and in reward He gave it feathers of jewel-like colors.
You can see The Third Sun as a print in my Etsy store. Click here!
In the four directions of the world are four tree-men who hold the Heaven in its place. These four columns are the communicators of the world of the creatures and the world of the Teteo.
In the beginning of time, Quetzalcoatl and Tezcatlipoca elevated the thirteen levels of the Heaven, separating them from the water left behind by a great flood.
Once they were raised, They placed the tree-men to give solidity and strength to the structure of the cosmos.
You can find prints of The Raising of the Heavens in my Etsy store! Click here!
