As a Mexican woman, I was taught from a young age that death is necessary for creation and that life does not end with it. In my culture, we celebrate our dead with the certainty that life is not the end—it is only the beginning of a new journey.
According to our pre-Hispanic mythology, the god Quetzalcoatl descended into the underworld to retrieve the bones of past generations, which were guarded by the god of death, Mictlantecutli. After stealing them, he mixed them with corn and sprinkled them with his own blood, and that is how he gave life to new peoples—to the world as we know it today.
In the work, the bones symbolize the creative and sacred seed from which life springs. In this way, the skeleton serves as a symbol of that rebirth, duality, and eternal life.
His plumage, like that of the god Quetzalcoatl, represents nascent life and the divine connection to his creator. Each feather bears divine traces of light, freedom, courage, and nobility, which, together with the colors, evoke sacred birds such as the quetzal and the macaw.
Its posture—and above all, its face turned upward—reveals its stoicism toward death and life, welcoming both rebirths without fear. The mist that envelops it marks both the exit from and the entrance to both worlds: the underworld and the earthly plane.
