AZTEC GODS ENCOMPASSING GOOD & EVIL

I have drawn studies of various Axtec deities. I find these gods fascinating because they encompass benign, life-sustaining powers as well as forces of death and obliteration. I have represented life and death in the forms of black and white running horses which accompany the gods. In the Aztec world, the gods required human sacrifice to mollify their destructive desires.

I see the gods as metaphors for environmental forces that dominate the human world. If humanity does not respect the natural environment, if mankind uses nature unkindly, she will reciprocate, bringing tragic consequences. Human beings will suffer horribly at the hands of nature.

The Aztec images lie at the center of an installation I am working on for the Red Head Gallery in May. The drawings themselves will not be shown as part of the installation; they are tools for my thought process, and I am including them as working drawings here.