hi guys!
ive started work on my next piece for degree project. so far ive gotten my figures sketched out pretty solidly, and the color down.
my next piece is for the snake goddess coatlicue. shes basically the mother of the universe, and all the stars are her children. she got pregnant under some sketchy circumstances, which angered her kids, especially her daughter coyolxauqui. they conspire to kill her, and just as they are about to, coatlicue gives birth to huitzilopochtli (the sun and warrior god) who protects his mother and murders all his siblings. coyolxauqui is decapitated and her head becomes the moon.
- yay for a quick aztec history lesson!
so, below is my sketch for the piece. the only things i really have to work out are coyolxauqui's head and the border. i was thinking i might go for some intertwining snake/feather embroidery.
the dark purple areas are fabric. the figures, moon and stars will all be cut paper, which i will stitch onto the fabric background. im basically making a cut paper mola, instead of out of fabric like i did with the last piece.
below is my cut paper start for huitzilopochtli -
any ideas for the border?
have a happy holidays!
ill post more progress in a few.
-alycia
all right, I have to say I don't really like huitzilopochtli. He just seems pretty arbitrary hanging out on his mum's belly. I wouldn't be able to figure out the story from what you're showing us. Granted it's a strange story, but I think that the violence in it is pretty important. i think you can show him in action or something and maybe also have some symbol that connects the slaughtered siblings to the mother, to show that they were her offspring, as well as huitzilo____etc.____
ReplyDeleteWhat happens to the slaughtered siblings, other than Coyolxauqui? Do they become the stars? because you could show the "stars" in the piece more symbol-y (to tie them back to coatlicue, and do stars as the border.
you're working with such rich symbols. snakes and feathers are awesome.