XOCHIPILLI VISIONS 

This remarkable creation is by Rah Azul, a danzante and self-taught artist born in East LA. @RahAzul's parents hail from Zapotlanejo in Jalisco, Mexico which helps shape his artistic work & purpose to give voice to culture, poetry, heritage, music and dance. We are happy to present their work as part of Latinx Heritage Month ✊🏾 

“My heritage is everything in my art.  Its fueled my purpose as an artist.  Its given me the desire to share my cultures history through my paintings.  Realizing that all my years as a student I never learned about my heritage or mexican culture made me the artist i am now.  It has become my purpose to rebuild my identity and share the beauty of indigenous roots with other people like me trying to make sense of their identities.

"I am telling the stories of our Indigenous ancestors using my art as a tool of enlightenment. It goes back to 1492. Almost all of our books and culture were burned and destroyed. Colonizers attempted to wipe out our way of life so I am helping people remember where they come from. My art starts dialogue. The colors and vibrations are an invitation to the realms of Indigenous ways. Our ancestors were one with nature & all their surroundings. They respected the land and soil. Now we're consuming and destroying our lands because we have lost our ways and culture. We are facing not only a physical genocide but a cultural, spiritual and moral destruction of our character and pride. I want to do my part and show the beauty of our peoples.

“So this painting represents to indigenous civilizations coming together and sharing resources and knowledge.  On the right side is a character as Quetzalcoatl, representing Mexico and the Mexica (Aztec) culture and on the left is a Mayan king or Shaman representing Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador, Belize)It's going beyond borders.  Since the European invasion borders have separated us.  We're the same.  We're brown and fighting the same battle but we're also divided which makes us weak.  So I wanted to show unity between two separate worlds.  The Aztec character is offering a pot of corn to the Mayan character.  A peace treaty.  At the bottom of the paintin you see a tree that has been cut but the roots are still strong and alive. ‘Our roots run deep’ at the top of the painting there is a female character representing Mother Earth.  She who keeps everything in balance.  Our heritage is not not Hispanic or Latino.  It's Indigenous.  Our people were one with nature and the most important thing was to be in harmony with our Earth.”