AZTLÁNTIS

or Entreaty to the cardinal waters, gatekeepers of Mist House, enders of the dry and leafless, source of all wealth and flood, animator of the cycle of growth and drought, holder of the jewels of rain.

Made from gemstone grade turquoise, jade, organic mayan blue (handmade), 22k lemon gold, organic indigo, cristobalite, gneiss, glass, construction rubble, organic matter, sepiolite, clay, plaster, sand, acrylic, pigment, aerosol, oil, damar varnish, gamvar, uv stabilizers on stretched canvas.

I made this piece as an ode to the gods of water while on residency in Germany. Coming from a 7 month research trip across Mexico, I was fascinated with the Nahuatl idea of the altepetl--the water mountain--the idea and belief that a polity's foremost job is to store and manage water. I began by building several layers of deep canal structure, inspired by the nested ruins of rubble-and-fill found across Mesoamerican cultures. I sculpted a mask of Tlaloc the rain god from Cristobalite, his fangs and goggles swallowing the peak of the city's pyramid. Referencing the sacred Aztec calendar, I recreated the day-sign for Rain. Using organic indigo sourced from the Oaxacan highlands, I went into the lab and synthesized great running gobs of Mayan Blue, the sacred ancient pigment with which Tlaloc's priests were painted and the only permanent botanical blue invented in ancient history. I then annointed the offering with all the gifts traditionally sacred to water: jade, turqoise, even glimmers of 22k gold that pierce her mysterious surface. A testament to the great engineers of ancient Mesoamerica and a cycle through the operatic extremes of drought and fertility.

120cm x 160cm
Private Collection.