48” x 36″
Oil on canvas
2025
A still from the prophetic dream of an ancestor whose life and works would catalyze the culture and religion of the Aztec (Mexica) people. Teotl, the Mexica’s conceptualization of the universe, is personified here as a decaying clay figure reseeding the Medicine (Peyote) Gardens of the South Texas plains. The life cycle of the Peyote cactus spans decades. Their population is in decline due to poaching, overharvesting, and habitat loss.
S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S
48″ x 36”
Oil on canvas
2026
A still from the prophetic dream of an ancestor whose life and works would catalyze the culture and religion of the Aztec (Mexica) people. Teotl, the Mexica’s conceptualization of the universe, is personified here as a decaying clay figure sculpting their face anew. The Mexica understood teotl as an emergence derived from the interplay of endless self- perpetuating cycles: life and death, day and night, hot and cold, etc.
28” x 22”
Oil on canvas
2024
In private collection
At the heart of the metaphysics of the Mexica, there exists only one thing: teotl. Teotl is conceptualized as the ceaseless, cyclical struggle of paired opposites: life and death, day and night, fire and water, etc. From that ever-changing struggle, existence emerges, and boundaries are rendered an illusion. In this image, I
explore the Mexica conceptualization of teotl in both its abstract and representational forms: teotl as a cyclical struggle of paired opposites and teotl as a creator of reality.
30″ x 24″
Oil on canvas
2025
This work is a meditation on how we currently conceptualize the sacred and profane as separate, unrelated entities, and how this stands in contrast to the world view of the Mexica (Aztec). The Mexica understood the cosmos as a series of self-perpetuating cycles: night and day, life and death, growth and decay. Though seemingly in opposition, each member of the pair brings about the other: from death life emerges and vice versa. Both are sacred. Both are profane. They personified this idea into a goddess named Tlazolteotl-Tlaelquani. Tlaelquani translates to eater of shit. She is said to consume all organic waste -excrement, decaying fruit and vegetables, corpses, etc., as well as our missteps, transgressions, sin, and folly. In her defecation, the filth of the world is purified into humus, which fertilizes the crops and sustains the people.
48” x 24”
Oil on canvas
2023
8″ x 8″
Oil on canvas
2024
In private collection
24” x 18”
Oil on canvas
2022
24” x 24”
Oil on canvas
2020
24” x 24”
Oil on canvas
2020