Ancestry

Ancestry, 2022

Sculpture, Foam, Clay, Plaster, Spray Paint

16” x 13” x 18”

Ancestry is a stand-alone sculpture based on traditional Mexican native imagery, created using pink insulation foam and cut precisely according to its design with the help of technology. An attempt to revive an ancient style with CNC machinery. The piece itself is rather large in scale yet it only weighs roughly around twelve pounds, it measures sixteen inches in length, thirteen inches in width, and eighteen inches in height. The rough-looking texture of my piece appears to have a porous surface that is meant to assimilate the aesthetic of volcanic rock, a material revered by the Aztecs and Mayans. Additionally, the color palette of the sculpture matches the charred darkness of the rock along with hints of grey tones that mimic ash residue on the surface, manipulating the material to create the right perspective.

I gained inspiration for my design while visiting the pyramids of the moon and sun in Mexico City. I became fascinated by the archeology and aesthetic surrounding the stone sculptures and motifs adorning its walls. The composition of my piece is stylized in a manner that resembles and emphasizes Aztec iconography while narrating the ancient belief in death, that human sacrifice nourished the gods. The sculpture depicts a head with a skull for face wearing a headpiece, the skull symbolizes those who were sacrificed while the headpiece is a stylized version of the face of the winged serpent god, Quetzalcoatl. It is a catalyst containing the connection between reverence and death in ancient times.