I am so proud to present this piece, which is the result of many months of work and research.
This piece is dedicated with great respect and admiration to my nahuatl teacher tlatoanitsin. Without his suggestion to do art of the Aztec gods I would never have made this. Half of all print sale profits go to him to support his work in preserving the nahuatl language and fighting for the wellbeing of indigenous communities of Mexico.
This piece depicts a scene from Aztec creation mythology. Under the cut you can find a writeup of the story, in three languages: english, spanish, and nahuatl (huasteca potosina variant), many thanks to my teacher for providing the translation.
This piece is mixed media, roughly 2000 layers of sketching, photobashing, and overpainting.
English
Quetzalcoatl and Xolotl in Mictlan
The fourth world was drowned in a fifty-two year flood of blood, tears of the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue. The cycle will continue, and now begins the time of the fifth world. It must have people to populate it, and those people must be made from the bones of the people of the previous world. Those bones are in Mictlan, land of the dead where the sky is always dark, where the bitter ceaseless wind is like obsidian knives, and where all that grows is tough and dry.
Quetzalcoatl, lord of the wind, of the arts and of learning, is tasked with retrieving those bones. He is accompanied by his twin brother Xolotl, lord of monsters, deformity, and death. Xolotl takes the form of a sickly and pitiable skeletal dog; the kind of creature that stands on the doorway of death with a foot in each world. Xolotl knows Mictlan well, in this guise he guides the sun through the underworld each night just as he guides souls from the world of the living onwards.
Mictlantecuhtli, lord of the dead and ruler of Mictlan, tells Quetzalcoatl he can take the bones and leave unhindered, but only if Quetzalcoatl can complete an impossible task: play a conch flute that has no holes. But Quetzalcoatl is lord of the wind and if he wills the air to move through a flute then it shall sing. He plays music with the shell, and Mictlantecuhtli is forced to concede and allow Quetzalcoatl to retrieve the bones of the people of the fourth world.
The lord of the dead does not take kindly to being bested by one of the four Creator Brother gods, the Tezcatlipocas. Lower in the hierarchy though he is, this place is his domain, and he will not allow his kingdom to be plundered easily.
He tells his minions to dig a great pit to trap Quetzalcoat. Quetzalcoatl falls, breaking the bones, and his own body. He dies in the pit in the land of the dead, but gods do not stay dead. The death of gods is only part of an endless cycle of change and renewal. He resurrects, and brings the broken bones with him to the fifth world. He mixes them with maize (a symbol of rebirth from death) and with his own holy blood, offered from his earlobes, calves, tongue, and penis. As each bone was broken in the fall into a different size piece, so the new people of the fifth world became different heights.
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Español
Quetzalcóatl y Xolotl en Mictlán
El cuarto mundo se ahogó en una inundación de sangre que duró cincuenta y dos años, las lágrimas de la diosa Chalchiuhtlicue. El ciclo continuará, y ahora comienza la era del quinto mundo. Debe haber personas que lo pueblen, y esas personas deben estar hechas de los huesos de las personas del mundo anterior. Esos huesos se encuentran en Mictlán, la tierra de los muertos, donde el cielo siempre está oscuro, donde el viento amargo e incesante es como cuchillos de obsidiana y donde todo lo que crece es duro y seco.
Quetzalcóatl, señor del viento, de las artes y del aprendizaje, tiene la tarea de recuperar esos huesos. Le acompaña su hermano gemelo Xolotl, señor de los monstruos, la deformidad y la muerte. Xolotl toma la forma de un perro esquelético, enfermizo y lamentable; el tipo de criatura que se queda en la puerta de la muerte con un pie en cada mundo. Xolotl conoce bien Mictlán, bajo esta identidad guía al sol a través del inframundo cada noche, al igual que guía a las almas del mundo de los vivos.
Mictlantecuhtli, señor de los muertos y gobernante de Mictlán, le dice a Quetzalcóatl que puede llevarse los huesos y marcharse sin obstáculos, pero solo si Quetzalcóatl puede completar una tarea imposible: tocar una flauta de caracol que no tiene agujeros. Pero Quetzalcóatl es el señor del viento y, si desea que el aire se mueva a través de una flauta, esta cantará. Toca música con la caracola y Mictlantecuhtli se ve obligado a ceder y permitir que Quetzalcóatl recupere los huesos de la gente del cuarto mundo.
Al señor de los muertos no le gusta que le supere uno de los cuatro dioses hermanos creadores, los Tezcatlipocas. Aunque es inferior en la jerarquía, este lugar es su dominio y no permitirá que su reino sea saqueado fácilmente.
Ordena a sus secuaces que caven un gran hoyo para atrapar a Quetzalcóatl. Quetzalcóatl cae, rompiéndose los huesos y su propio cuerpo. Muere en el hoyo de la tierra de los muertos, pero los dioses no permanecen muertos. La muerte de los dioses es solo parte de un ciclo interminable de cambio y renovación. Él resucita y lleva consigo los huesos rotos al quinto mundo. Los mezcla con maíz (símbolo del renacimiento tras la muerte) y con su propia sangre sagrada, ofrecida de sus lóbulos de las orejas, pantorrillas, lengua y pene. Como cada hueso se rompió en la caída en pedazos de diferentes tamaños, así el nuevo pueblo del quinto mundo tuvo diferentes estaturas.
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Náhuatl
Ketsalkoatl uan Xolotl pan Miktlan
Nauipan tlaltipak misaui pan se esotlaueixtli tlen uejkajki makuilpoalli uan ome xiutl, iixayotl tlen siuateotl Chalchiutlikue. Tonallis panotias, uan aman peua makuilpan tlaltipak. Ma onkaskiya maseualmej tlen mamochantikaj, uan inon maseualmej ma mochijtokaj tlen omiyo maseualli tlen achtouika tlaltepaktli. Inon omimej mopantiaj pan Miktlan, tlalli tlen mijkatsitsin, kampa illuikatl nochipa tsintlayouatok, kampa ajakatl chichik uan moollinia ken istlitlatentli, uan kampa nochi moskaltia tetik uan uaktok.
Ketsalkoatl, ajakatlakatl, toltekayotlakatl uan tlamichtitlakatl, kipia pan imako tlakuepas inon omimej. Kitlauika iiknin kuate Xolotl, tlakatemajmatijketl, tsikuiltik uan mijketl. Xolotl moixchiua tlen se chichi kejkelechtik, mokokoyaj uan mochojchokillia; tlen ken se tlapialli tlen mokaua pan kuatsajketl mijkayotl ka sejsen iikxi pan tlaltipak. Xolotl kiixomati kualli Miktlan, tlen ken ka ni iaxka kiojtlallia tonati pan chiknauimiktlan sejsen youalli, noijki kinojtlallia elluayotl tlen tlaltepaktli kampa maseualmej yoltokej.
Miktlantekujtli, miktlantlakatl uan tlanauatijketl tlen Miktlan, kiillia Ketsalkoatl uelli kinuikas omimej uan moojuitlallis, sanijki Ketsalkoatl uellis kichiuas se tekitl tlen oui: kipitsas se atekokolli tlen amo koyoxtik. Yesej Ketsalkoatl ajakatlakatl uan, tlan kineki ma ajakatl ma moollini pan se akatlapitsalli, ni kuikas. Kuikachiua ka atekokolli uan Miktlantekutli motemaka uan kikaua Ketsalkoatl ma kikuepa omiyo tlen maseualmej tlen nauikpan tlaltipak.
Miktlantlakatl amo kipaktia ma kitlanikaj se tlen nauipan teomej iknimej tlaelliyanij, Teskatlipokamej. Maske iststok tlatsintla tekiuayotl, ni kakiuilli ya tlanauatia uan amo kikauas pan itlanauatillis ma kiichtekikaj nimanok.
Kinnauatia innintekiua ma kichiuakaj se ueyi ostotl uan ma kitskikaj Ketsalkoatl. Ketsalkoatl uetsi, moomiyoposteki uan nojkia itlakayo. Miki pan ostotl tlen Miktlampa, yesej teomej amo mokauaj miktokej. Miktli tlen teomej sanijki se tonalli tlen amo kipia itlamika tlen mopajpatla uan moyankuillia. Ya moyoleua uan kiuika omiyo postektokej kampa makuilpan tlaltipak. Kinmaneloa ika sintli (kistosneki tlen yoleua keman se miki) uan ka ieso teoyalli, temaka tlen inakayotl nakastli, kotstli, nejnepilli uan tepolli. Ken san sejsen omiyo postejki keman uetski motlatlapatski, ijkinon yankuik altepetl tlen makuilpan tlaltipak kipixki miak tlamantli tlen ijuejuexka.
"Despite the sorrow, despite all the hate that you could feel about yourself... I want to let you know that I love you..." ☀️
Back in 2023 I had this idea of Nanahuatzin and Tonatiuh having a conversation. "What would you do if you see yourself in the future? Or in the past?" Was the main question.
After my father passed away, too many projects were abandoned, maybe because for me it has been kinda difficult to keep going after he is no longer here, you know... But after all these years, I want to resume some of them. I think they deserved to see the light at some point
For now I just leave this simple drawing. Would you like to see that old idea? Maybe in a story? Maybe in a comic? I read you! 👀
My own interpretation of the Mexica goddess Xochiquetzal. I was inspired by Mexica codices and, well, I actually added some other things to give her body and face more expression💋
