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Maratón Creativo Nahualli 2020

Camino al Mictlán: Maratón Creativo Nahualli

By Melva Medina

The Nahualli Creative Marathon drawing contest, held in the midst of a pandemic, at the end of April this year, became the starting point for many artists who were fans of drawing, as well as a new showcase for emerging and professional artists.

Also, with great talents and outstanding work, the winners and honorable mentions were also chosen for giving us a look at the depths of their art and for their dedication in creating fifteen works throughout the Creative Marathon.

“Verustiana” prepares her way to Mictlán

“Verustiana”, one of the winners of the Creative Marathon, in the category of “Emergent”. She shows us her inks technique and the interpretation of the relationship between death and xolo dogs.

Continuing with the tradition of these days, in which we prepare to receive our dead at home, we take a look at the work of this artist in training.

Dogs, those faithful companions of life, and surely, also of death …

If you are sensitive and noble-hearted, you need no effort to adore these four-legged friends and adopt them as part of your family.

The love that dogs offer to people, is the most unconditional there is.

Those of us who are fortunate enough to live with them, see our lives nourished by the privilege of having such good company.

In the world of the dead, there were three main kingdoms, in Tlalocan, the first, the God of water, the rains, and the ruler was Tlaloc.

In the beginning, there was this place for souls who lost their lives because of a death related to that God.

These could be the dead of hydrocephalus, ascites, pulmonary emphysema or even those who died by drowning.

They were buried with dry branches, which as they approached the kingdom of Tlaloc, were transformed into fruit trees.

This place was full of lakes, rivers, and cenotes. With a beautiful climate that allowed them to play naked and enjoy great peace and happiness.

The second kingdom of the dead was the Tonatiuhichan, the place where the God of the Sun, Tonatiuh, reigns.

This was a privileged kingdom, and only those who lost their lives by giving it to others in the form of personal sacrifice could achieve this honor.

Here came the warriors, those executed in sacrifice and women who died giving birth to a new being.

They came to the kingdom of the Sun, where the light-filled them with energy and peace, and they accompanied the Sun for seven years, making their journey through the Cosmos.

After that time, they were brought back to life in the form of hummingbirds, to enjoy the aroma and nectar of the flowers.

The third kingdom was Mictlán, where all the dead of natural causes, ordinary individuals like you and me, would go.

Here, we had to prepare our trip well armed with good deeds, especially with the creatures of nature.

In ancient times, it was important to take care of our Mother Earth and her beings, and one of the most important was in fact the dogs.

Our Aztec ancestors considered Xoloitzcuintle dogs to be sacred animals.

People looked after these hairless specimens with great care, as there was a belief that if you earned their love, they would do everything to help you reach peace on your journey to death, across the Mictlán.

This journey implied crossing that enormous river, while the laments of so many souls tormented by having been cruel in live sound in the background.

And it is that Xolotl guarded the God of the Sun “Tonatiuh” in his journey around the celestial vault.

Finally, they were sent to Mictlán to help the dead cross that river, where an iguana detained those who had mistreated the dogs.

On this road to the Mictlán, hand in hand with “Verustiana”, our Creative Marathon took us beyond this life, and likewise, made us look at other worlds and underworlds.

Full of gratitude to all those who participated in this year’s edition of our Creative Marathon, we want to invite you to closely follow everything that follows – and will continue – happening around this, one of our most important annual events, in the remainder of this year.

Maratón Creativo Nahualli

Una pareja que inspira: Maratón Creativo Nahualli

By A. Osuna

The Nahualli Creative Marathon drawing contest, held in the midst of the pandemic, at the end of April this year, became the starting point for many artists who are fond of drawing, as well as a new showcase for emerging and professional artists. And in this case, an inspiring couple.

Also, with great talents and outstanding work, the winners and honorable mentions were also chosen for giving us a look at the depths of their art and for their dedication in creating fifteen works throughout the Creative Marathon.

Thus, this month, we dedicate the pages of our blog to two of the Honorable Mentions of the Nahualli Creative Marathon, corresponding to the “Emerging” category: Megane Pibolleau and Tóxico Moreno, who besides being artists with promising careers, once our Marathon was over, we discovered that they have a relationship as a couple, where their love for art has become its main axis, and for which chance came to unite them casually among our outstanding artists.

The artists

Megane Pibolleau, Honorable Mention Creative Marathon 2020, Category: Emerging

26-year-old emerging artist, of French nationality and currently based in the city of Mérida, Yucatán.

Her artistic training took place at the Public University of Nimes, France, from where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Applied to Design. Sh has exhibited on multiple occasions in France and Mexico; she belongs to a collage collective, designs jewelry, and is also a graphic designer and illustrator.

The artist has created drawing projects, such as “CARNE MOLIDA”, for which she made more than fifty illustrations, in a series that aims to be the translation of a remnant of memory and graphic interpretation of her dreams. The production of this project is constant, as the artist continues to draw, following the same theme in order to appreciate the evolution of her interpretation.

“For this series and for all the others I chose to work with the black line, since I work intuitively, this allows me greater freedom in applying automatic or instinctive drawing. I think that with a black pen my hand is freer.” Megane Pibolleau

EXHIBITS

2016

Participation in the collective exhibition of the art schools of Nimes, production of a series of 5 fanzines “Go to hell” (collage, illustrations,

photos), Galerie Le Spot, Nimes, France

2017

Participation in the installation “Procesos” with the textile artist Agueda León, the artist Alejandro Gamboa and the dancer Agata Fuku. Installation of bamboo and fabric. Galería Mérida, Mérida Yucatán

2018

Exhibition of the project “Carne Molida”, a series of 50 drawings. Hotel Galería H036 in Lyon, France

2019

Exhibition of “Carne Molida”, series of 15 drawings, PROSE ephemeral Gallery, Lyon, France

Tóxico Moreno, Honorable Mention Creative Marathon 2020, Category: Emerging

Mexican, traveler, photographer, and visual artist. Hugo Tomás Moreno Vilchiz studied for a degree in Plastic Arts at the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico. He has participated in exhibitions since issue no. 14 of the Annual Hall of the Faculty of Arts of the UAE Mex, even as an exhibitor at the University Art Fair, held in Mérida, Yucatán in 2016.

Currently, Tóxico Moreno – his nickname – is the owner, collaborator, and creator of the firm “nowmadas CT toxic collares”, where he makes artisanal production.

EXHIBITS

Participation in the edition number 14 and 15 of the Annual Hall of the Faculty of

arts of the UAE Mex

 

2013

Participation in the commemoration of the CCL anniversary of the NATIONAL ILLUSTRATOR in Sultepec Estado de México

 

2015

Collective exhibition at the numismatic museum in Toluca, State of Mexico

 

2016

Exhibitor at the 2nd University Art Fair held in Mérida, Yucatán

Full of gratitude to all those who participated in this year’s edition of our Creative Marathon, we want to invite you to closely follow everything that follows – and will continue – happening around this, one of our most important annual events, in the remainder of this year.

Conoce más sobre otros participantes de nuestro Maratón Creativo Nahualli 2020.

 

Check out our official Instagram !

Nahualli Creative Marathon 2020

Tchaikovsky on paper: 2020 Nahualli Creative Marathon

By Anaid O

The Nahualli Creative Marathon drawing contest, held in the midst of a pandemic, at the end of April this year, became the starting point for many artists who were fans of drawing, as well as a new showcase for emerging and professional artists.

Also, with great talents and outstanding work, the winners and honorable mentions were also chosen for giving us a look at the depths of their art and for their dedication in creating fifteen works throughout the Creative Marathon.

Antony Milla Aguilera (ComaIcaIco, Tabasco, 2000), is a visual artist and pianist.

But also, he is our winner of the Nahualli Creative Marathon 2020 in the “Emerging” category.

In the first place, and as part of his training from an early age, Milla studied drawing under the direction of the teacher Adrián Milla Meneses.

With a refined and dramatic style in his strokes, Antony has taken multiple workshops on engraving, drawing, painting, sculpture, photography, and action art, with outstanding teachers from the country.

Currently, he has multiple group and individual exhibitions in different galleries, museums, private companies, and different important venues in the country.

Antony is a student of Visual Arts at the Higher School of Arts in Yucatán and is also a member of the sculpture workshop under the tutelage of Austrian teacher Gerda Gruber.

Most of his works can be found in Tabasco and Veracruz.

“After a month or two of confinement, the truth is that the Creative Marathon helped me a lot to clear a lot, doing those drawing exercises. I really like working with series and it made me very interesting because it was a series of 15 drawings ”.

Also, at the beginning of his entry to art school, it occurred to Antony that he did not want to remain solely in painting, and decided to explore other areas such as photography.

While he was finding his way in art, he found a very special place in sculpture.

At the same time, he has managed to develop as an artist in more than one of its aspects.

To contemplate these fifteen works by Antony Milla is to be transported to Imperial Russia, and almost to be moved by the compositions of Tchaikovsky resounding in one’s memory.

Nahualli Creative Marathon

By Anaid O.

The Nahualli Creative Marathon drawing contest, held in the midst of a pandemic, at the end of April this year, became the starting point for many artists who were fans of drawing, as well as a new showcase for emerging and professional artists.

Also, with great talents and outstanding work, the winners and honorable mentions were also chosen for giving us a look at the depths of their art and for their dedication in creating fifteen works throughout the Creative Marathon.

The participant in our 2020 Nahualli Creative Marathon contest, Alejandro Aguilar Bustos (Mexico City, 1962), winner of the “Aficionado” category, was able to transport us with his fifteen drawings and through an honest line, directly to vibrant Mexico City, with all its splendor and agitation; to that energetic and chaotic normality of public transport, to the craving for some tacos at night, to a stroll through the squares and even the charming flea markets at the weekend. That beautiful triviality that used to exist and that we look at with nostalgia today.

It is precisely about that melancholy, and the feeling of having left behind an era that today, despite everything, allows us to approach, among other things, to art, writes the artist and director of Nahualli Gallery, Melva Medina.

The whisper of the streets and alleys in the neighborhoods is silent. I miss the band in the market, the people eating as a family at the tables with colorful tablecloths, and those friendly conversations with the neighbors who coincide in queuing at the poultry shop or buying the daily fruit.

The cafes and bars are sad, they cry every night because they miss the noise. The spontaneous singer who, inspired by the trio, dares to sing a verse for his beloved to the tune of a few mojitos and carajillos, has now taken a long break.

In the squares, there is a void of artisans selling their products and the gap allows us to feel a dense atmosphere full of fear of exploring the environment. The benches miss the sweat of all the loves prostrated in the innumerable kisses they have witnessed.

There is no one to feed the pigeons or give the leftovers to the stray dog. I even miss the beggar selling bracelets, my countrymen from Chiapas carrying their blouses. Young urban artists have left their proclamations wrapped in the soul, pressed by the desire to go out and sound loud; as well as the dancers, the cyclists, the walkers, the marquesitas and the elotes, the workers, the shopkeepers …

Only some come out covering their mouths suffocated by the hot air of the environment combined by their breath fearing the presence of the invisible enemy in their bodies.

The injunction to confinement is already too long to be taken seriously. The hug, the “little faje”, the passionate kiss are missed; just shaking hands and feeling the energy of a friend. The friction of bodies without fear, the closeness in the bus, getting close to someone on the truck, “hacer bola” in meetings or family gatherings, or rallies …

I miss the shouting, the singing, the choir, the school group, the ball game, recess time to see the kids sharing their lunch …

Life is still ours and it is enlivened with the memory and longing for what we will do again, once this is over. Because it will end one day, and then we will be even more alive and aware, we will have grown and we will be more than ready to continue and intensely appreciate what had been imperceptible. Today is the time to contemplate, visual enjoyment, imagining and growing within ourselves. It is time to enjoy art and reading.

Alejandro Aguilar reminds us of who we are, our daily intensity and the joy of living. It is time to contemplate his work and yearn with desire all that we are capable of giving. He reminds us that this will happen to give rise to our daily experience again, now more conscious than before. And, it is in the near future that we will appreciate ourselves intensely – internally and externally – to give ourselves whole again enjoying life in a different way. Melva Medina, 2020

More about the artist

As an amateur, Alejandro Aguilar, a graduate of the Graphic Communication career at the National School of Plastic Arts of the UNAM, has had an intermittent personal plastic production that has flowed in four aspects: the first and most numerous is that of drawings and paintings of anatomical reinterpretations of arthropod species and diverse fauna; the second, which has been brief, is that of drawings of “humorous” recreations of stories and anecdotes from the world and the urban underworld; the third, incipient, is of the intervention of waste objects with micro sculpture, drawing and/or painting; and the fourth, incipient as well, the production of an object book that in this area is illustrated by a recently concluded piece with texts from the book “Las Enseñanzas de Don Juan” by Carlos Castañeda.

“It was another aspect that I have always liked, the urban question, the question of characters in the street, of characters that you meet on the street every day: the worker, the craftsman, the people who go out to work at work, the people who go on public transport, the people you see in the subway or in the minibus.

I like watching all the people. From there, I generate certain stories and it was the part that I liked to participate, this time, in the Nahualli Creative Marathon”.

For this reason, and choosing pencil, ink, watercolor and acrylic on paper or cardboard as his preferred means when creating his works, Alejandro Aguilar was awarded as one of the winners of our Creative Marathon 2020 for his talent, and because In the reality we live in today, the frankness of his art allowed us to look out the window to look at that outside world that today seems so far away.

News

Create to strengthen ties with dad

By A. Osuna

The Nahualli Creative Marathon drawing contest, held at the end of April this year, became the starting point for many amateur artists, as well as a new showcase for emerging and professional artists. With great talents and outstanding works, the winners and honorable mentions were also chosen for giving us an insight into the depths of their art and for their dedication to creating fifteen works throughout the Creative Marathon.

In the “Amateurs” category, we highlight the participant Jorge Iván Saldaña with an Honorable Mention. Through his drawings created for the Marathon, Jorge Iván manifested a constant duality between reality and fantasy, order and chaos, the earthly and the celestial. But he, as a dad, was also able to turn a drawing contest into the perfect opportunity to spend more time with his children.

“It was a surprise to find out about the Marathon; I showed it to my children and the three of us decided to participate together. I have ten-year-old twins, and they liked the idea so much that mainly they motivated me to participate. We started doing this exercise, of which what caught my attention the most, was that we should not talk about the pandemic … ”

In his work, Jorge Iván creates dichotomies that refer to the struggle that man faces during the transformation process.

Before the Marathon, Jorge Iván and his children adopted the habit of drawing an hour daily. “It is a marathon, so we had to prepare ourselves; seven days before, we would put jazz music on the computer and from 7 to 8 we would draw the three of us. Then on Monday the marathon started and we were already warm for the activity ”, says the dad of the twins..

Through the ideas that his work transmits; Jorge Iván suggests a reflection on the existential uncertainty of the human being in the world that he himself has created and that perceives it through conscience, which intends to interpret it according to his experiences, these being a component of his grasp of the reality.

“The main thing is that [the habit of drawing] stayed as something for us, it became something very established at home. We are grateful from the heart, it was a very pleasant experience not only of fifteen days -in addition to the seven days of preparation-, the tradition has already stayed at home: the hour of drawing. For me, it is a prize and a gift to share this with my children and with you …

Fatherhood is many things, it manifests itself in different ways and contains in itself a wide range of shades of colors. For Jorge Iván, the most intimate fatherhood managed to manifest itself through art, as a pretext to strengthen ties with his children. Now, drawing with his children every day has become the best way to create new memories and traditions, which, hopefully, will remain for many years to come.

Memory

Motherhood as a starting point, as an origin and destination

By A. Osuna

Gráfica Melva

This month, we celebrate motherhood and those who from the deepest roots have become the guides of our walk through life: mothers.

Melva Medina herself, director and artist of Galería Nahualli, as mother of Meztli and Citlalli is at the same time a window towards the purest concept of motherhood and what it represents in her life as a sculptor and multidisciplinary artist.

Described by herself as a great teaching of life, motherhood was very intense for Melva, and this is reflected in many of her works. “When one conceives to give birth to a baby, one is filled with energy, there is a different flow of energy. You feel it, you carry it and you live differently. I always try to represent that energy flow in my works … ”.

In many of Melva’s works pieces are seen completely cut in half as part of her discourse of considering light as an elemental aspect in the sculpture itself.

For Melva, light, emptiness and everything that is ethereal, represents the most important part. In her works, she refers to the feeling of “doing everything” for that human being that comes.

Eroticism blends with science and feelings, a fusion between energy and emotions emerges around the generation of new life.

“Eroticism is very important, the seed agreement as a source and starting point, these phallic elements as a point from here to life, the moment of giving that light, that spark, that attraction, chemistry. All that is science, it is art, it is nature and all that I have impregnated. The roots with the Earth. We are part of it, we are going to give to it. I think a lot about this cycle of life and death, which is something very just: it gives you so much, that you have to give it back… ”.

Melva’s work tells us of a symbolism where women have the leading role, whether as mother, daughter, and being contained in a complex and beautiful existence, the woman finds herself immersed in a surreal and dreamlike world.

In her sculpture, Melva emphasizes the importance of the invisible, intangible energy symbol; of space in form, as a fundamental element. Female eroticism, her identity in mesticism and her spirituality, the ethereal and the mystical, function as a repeated theme in her creations.

“Heaven cries and gives its sacred liquids to drink to the earth. She guards herself with the eternal desire to feel his touch. Her heart bursts into fruitfulness and generously manifests itself by sprouting and giving, nurturing those who will later nourish her… ”.

Creative Process

Graphic adventure of Abel Vázquez on LP discs.

By Melva Medina

Grinding, cutting, depressing volumes and polishing planes. Digging, blocking, playing with lines, making textures. Imagining, shaping its own dreams and legends.

Putting the praxis of genius on that small round surface, which allowed him with nobility, to be matter and protagonist of his madness …

During the 80’s, the compact disc appeared as a great novelty due to its sound and fidelity, replacing the great LP discs, which were left in oblivion, littered and discarded as garbage.

Abel Vázquez, during the 90’s, waiting for the arrival of his little daughter and living the first years of his first daughter, finds in the acetates of LP discs, ideal matrices for the production of pieces of graphic work in the technique of the gravure and its subsequent printing using the experience of roll up.

Melva and Abel previously had already experimented in the engraving workshop on zinc and iron plates, intervening with varnishes and acids, inking with rollers of different hardnesses and transparent inks with various degrees of viscosity, they achieved depressions and qualities that gave spectacular results.

With the arrival of his two little girls, and with the idea of ​​achieving less toxic processes, it was wonderful to find new surfaces and mechanical resources from the grinding machines and hand motors they used to make the sculptures, now adapting them in the new matrices.

Disc acetates are smooth with handheld motor and dry tip; they are susceptible to sandpaper and polishers, they are loyal reproducers of line and texture. The millimeter lines recorded with audible music are now visually perceived as part of the rhythms in the compositions with color harmonies.

This is how Abel played, next to his fatherhood, enjoying his little daughters doing naive works evoking the childhood of Meztli and Citlalli, sharing one more adventure with Melva in the studio, in that small department of the 5th. Apartment, on Insurgentes Avenue in Mexico City.

Procesos Creativos

Una vida llena de sueños, magia y arte

Por Melva Medina

El paseo dominical resultaba intenso pero divertido y en ocasiones lleno de sorpresas. Siete de la mañana, el domingo exigía levantarse temprano para acomodar los cuadros en un par de diablitos que podían llevar unas cuantas docenas de pinturas, grabados y esculturas. Debíamos ser cautelosos desde la fabricación de nuestras obras de arte; el elevador lo pedía. Y es que, viviendo en un 5to Piso en donde la única forma de subir y bajar con carga era un elevador con capacidad para 8 personas bien ajustaditas, solo debíamos tomar en cuenta la medida de la puerta para poder acceder con nuestra carga dominical con facilidad para emprender la travesía hacia el jardín del arte.

Bajando del edificio, nos encontrábamos en Insurgentes Centro, que era una de las avenidas más transitadas de la ciudad de México, sólo dábamos vuelta a la esquina y nos encontrábamos en una hermosa calle llena de grandes árboles y hermosas casas victorianas estilo francés. Sadi Carnot era el nombre de aquella señorial calle, en la colonia San Rafaél, una de las más prestigiadas de la época del Porfiriato.

Así cada domingo en el parque de Sullivan, ubicado en la misma colonia, nos dábamos cita mas de 700 pintores y escultores.

En aquellos tiempos, durante los años 80s, resultaba muy enriquecedora la experiencia, podíamos tener contacto con gran diversidad de públicos. Algunos nos visitaban como un mero pretexto de paseo familiar, que servía para el recreo, combinado con paseo de perros y niños que aprovechaban el uso de “resbaladillas” y “sube-y-baja”.

Otros paseantes, definitivamente buscaban una forma de llevar algún objeto para decorar sus casas. Y, entre tantos visitantes, llegábamos a conectar a verdaderos coleccionistas y personas muy interesadas que solían tomarnos en serio, y apostaban a nuestras carreras como creadores.

Duramos varios años haciendo este recorrido, toda la semana hacíamos nuestra producción tanto en pintura como en gráfica y escultura; y el domingo paseábamos las piezas para exhibirlas entre días soleados, algunos ventarrones y chubascos repentinos. Cada domingo, con mucho entusiasmo recorríamos ese camino, nuestra hermosa calle arbolada, en un ambiente callado y fresco y la esperanza de vender algo que nos permitiera continuar con nuestro afanoso capricho creativo.

En esa calle había una casa muy bella con cuatro balcones de cantera, techos de doble altura, frisos de yesería con rosetones en los techos de cielo raso y ventanales con doble puerta estilo Art Nouveau. Un gran portón de madera y un escudo de familia tallado en cantera en el remate frontal del diseño del edificio. Esa era mi casa favorita del recorrido. Y cada día que pasábamos enfrente le pedía al universo por esa casa… la casa de mis sueños…

¡¡¡Chapis, compremos esta casa!!! Era mi frase cada ocho días… Chapis, Cómprame esta casa… Chapis, yo quiero esta casa… Esta casa será mía…

Años pasando y años repitiendo esas frases, hasta que un día, apareció un letrero que decía: “SE VENDE DEPARTAMENTO”.

Algún tipo listo se le ocurrió derrumbar la parte interior de la casona y la fraccionó en pequeños departamentos de interés social. Cuando descubrimos esto, tuvimos un sentimiento de frustración pues la casona completa debió haber sido una joya y el haberla derrumbado fue realmente un crimen.

Sin embargo, la parte frontal de la casa había sido rescatada por el INAH antes de haberse demolido en su totalidad y se conservaban intactos los detalles de una buena parte del edificio, la cual seguía siendo maravillosa.

El departamento que se vendía en aquel momento, fue comprado por otra persona, era un departamento chiquito en la parte posterior del predio. Realmente no me gusto. Un año después, siguiendo con mis deseos de obtener ese precioso predio, por la parte del frente, lo cual sonaba menos imposible que el hecho de adquirir toda la casona, seguí pidiendo por ello y, de repente se puso un anuncio que decía “SE VENDE ESTE DEPARTAMENTO”…

La emoción nos invadió, un poco a lo loco, pues realmente nuestros gastos iban al día y no teníamos dinero para comprar ni un departamento chiquitín.

Ese mismo domingo, yo había puesto mis caballetes con un nuevo lote de grabados que había realizado en la academia de San Carlos, y un personaje elegante y muy serio me abordó dándome una tarjeta para que yo lo fuera a visitar a su oficina pues le había gustado mucho mi trabajo.

El lunes siguiente me puse guapa y lo fui a visitar. ¡Que sorpresa!… Era el presidente del Grupo ASEMEX BANPAIS, la institución que manejaba el dinero en México en esos tiempos. Me pidió mi obra para remodelar la decoración de oficinas y sucursales bancarias de toda la Ciudad de México, de Aguascalientes, Estado de México y Guadalajara. En ese momento, mi inocencia y entusiasmo me hizo comprometerme a un trabajo titánico.

En equipo con Abel, logramos hacer un taller de producción intensiva para cumplir con mi cliente. Era tal la cantidad de trabajo, que se tuvo que diversificar la producción, mis diseños resultaron ser insuficientes, Abel aprendiendo la técnica en la marcha, y me ayudó a complementar los pedidos con sus diseños.

En una de mis entregas, entrevistándome con mi jefe para liquidar algunas cuentas, él me preguntó: ¿Oye niña, estás esperando bebé?, y yo le respondí si; debo haber tenido unos 5 meses de embarazo. En ese momento vivíamos en nuestro pequeño departamento en Insurgentes Centro, en donde trabajábamos y vivíamos. De inmediato me mandó con las personas que otorgaban los créditos para los trabajadores del banco y me dio instrucciones de buscar un lugar para hacer efectivo mi crédito.

De inmediato fui a buscar a la persona que vendía la casa de mis sueños y se hizo el trato a las pocas semanas. En menos de tres meses fuimos dueños de aquel sueño. Dos días antes de dar a luz a mi pequeña Meztli, llegamos a habitar ese lugar, con una cama, un antecomedor, un mueble en donde teníamos colocado un microondas y muchos cuadros que decoraban nuestros muros, dando a nuestro nuevo hogar un toque cálido y lleno de arte. La casa era realmente linda y grande, ideal para criar a mis dos hijas.

Disfrutamos de este lugar por 10 años, justo antes de descubrir nuestra actual residencia en esta hermosa Mérida.

Creative Process

Silent Prey

By Melva Medina

When the soul of a human being is violated, the mind goes into a defensive mode and creates a shield that “protects” it, hiding itself in silence. What follows is a confinement that keeps the spirit imprisoned, confused and immersed in internal conflict and pain.

There are magic encounters between people, some intense and passionate, some harmonious and surrounded by love, but there are also savage encounters filled with sadism and hatred.

The world has polarized the human race. One side is rage, intolerance and physical aggression which foments sensationalism and promotes morbidity and yellow journalism. On the other side is spectacle, turning us into spectators and consumers of painful stories as part of a daily entertainment, closing our eyes to the morality and value of human rights.

The frequency of disaster and the primitive behavior of human beings justifies inhuman behaviors as part of the essence that characterizes our species.

The subtle encounter of caress and sexuality gets transformed into abuse when something that should be love, becomes primal, savage aggression to satisfy instinct. These acts violate defenseless human beings, disregarding the consequences of actions.

Our time is of fortunate change. The world, despite the presence of an evident chaos and a world humanitarian crisis, is opening its eyes and awakening. A large and sympathetic group of people around the world is starting to unify and radicalize stances that in a short time will lead to the awakening of consciousness. This is the work that the artist should fulfill. Our commitment is to use creative tools to denounce events, but also to propose alternatives offering relief and a solution to conflict. Art is the mechanism that crystallizes human acts. Art accompanies us and will continue distinguishing us form the rest of the species, saving the real essence of being that calls together our existence.

This is a project we have been working on for a little over a year, having its origin in some of the drawings of Aura Meztli, from which I as a sculptor interpret and transform them in new ways. Aura Meztli’s work gives us a breath of fresh air with fashion design dedicated to child sexual abuse victims. She gives us with these creations a tool for empowerment and strength helping us to keep moving forward with dignity while feeling safe, free, and attractive.

In this project, as with all the ones we do in Nahualli casa de los artistas, the family has been the foundation that inspires its realization. The support of Abel Vázquez and Alma Citlalli, have been essential to its fulfillment, as well as photographer Carlos Arjona.

Creative Process

Time of no time

By Guadalupe Caballero

“There is no time for things” says Abel Vázquez, joking a little bit about the pun that refers to the name of the work. The time of no time, represents the painter’s two daughters: Citlalli and Meztli, both nature lovers, spiritual beings who are looking for their own time.

The painting is divided between earth and cosmology. The most impressive thing about Abel’s art, is that he always plays not only with his titles, but also with shapes and figures that he portrays. From one side, the painting tells you a story, but if you flip it three more times, you will get different versions of the tale; this is, without a doubt, what makes this work so peculiar yet attractive.

At first glance, the figure of a braided woman is striking. In Abel’s words, it represents Citlali; below or next to her (depending on how the viewer perceives it) you can find the nature, sea, plants and animals surrounding her. What in a beginning seems to be a snail, suddenly turns into a bird, swan or heron, all of this elements being wrapped by cosmology and earth, making the landscape a riddle.

From the other side, there is Meztli. She can seem in one of the readings, an angel with closed wings falling to the void, her hair represents water, and her gazing is stirring yet meticulous. From her figure, if you look closer, you will find that another face is drawn, as well as a pair of arms that are tossing small seeds to the air. All of this, expresses a deep connection between her being and earth, it serves a caring role, and talks about a protection bond that she wants to reach with her sister.

When you flip the painting, her figure is no longer falling, but it is dancing in the air or the universe, trying to find herself. Now, the sea turns into a cactus, stars transform into flowers and birds into fishes. The angel’s hands portray light, meaning the energy that all of us have within ourselves; what was before cosmology it is now earth, it goes deep down the sea, feeding and nourishing fishes, so it becomes a circle of life. It connects with nature and also with herself.

Other elements like the blue dots in the painting, symbolize flowers, stars or fireflies. Abel narrates how in his homeland, he used to lay down on the field and look up to the sky; what for so many could seemed to be common stars, for him meant a swarm of fireflies. The night became a source of inspiration, just as the red color and ochre that you can see portrayed on many of his works. You can’t help but notice the subtle and elegant strokes that all of this paintings possess, he likes putting nature as the main topic to make others see how important it is not only in artistic issues, but also in universal ones.

“There is no time to destroy or not destroy, it is about making a dialogue, why waiting for time? Just do it, time does not exist”. The painter finishes. His work can be described as a puzzle, riddle or optical illusion, the viewers see what they want to see, they take their own time to appreciate and decode what lays in front of their eyes.

Abel does not want to give a clear answer for the painting, as he finds beauty and joy in the interpretations that people grant regarding his art.