The Uncolonized: Axihuical

2019-Present

The Uncolonized: Axihuical explores a parallel world, where the Western Hemisphere averted colonization, and the indigenous people of the lands thrived unobstructed. This body of work celebrates the indigenous heritage of people like me and is intended to invoke curiosity into the untaught histories of our Meso-American legacy.

This universe is a utopian world of bountiful wonders, where our timeline diverged, and the indigenous peoples united to form a superpower in the world. A world of Aztechnonauts exploring the heavens; Mayathmaticians unlocking the secrets of the universe; Olmchemists creating new polymers and Zapotecknical engineers building the architecture of the future. It is a Sci-Fi-inspired vision of not what could have been, but through multiverse theory, what is currently happening in another universe.

Laser Cut Tiles

1. Axihuical (El Paralelo) 2021

2. Codex of Mayamatica, K'ab'al, Calculating Citlallicue 2024

3. Codex Zapotecnico Ingeniera Nadxiee LiiIxnēhuiā Computing Orbital Geometry 2024

4. Codex of Aztechnonaut, Cuauhtemōc, waking on Coyolxauhqui (The Descending Eagle has Landed) 2024

5. Codex of the Olmequemista, Yo Pe Ku Tu, Formulating Nepacatica 2024

6. Codex of the Jaguar/Eagle Aztechnonaut, Citlali, in Search of the Ilhuicahuah 2024

Figurines

1. ltlachiyaliz tlen Aztecnonauta Ocelotl-Cuauhtli Aztecnonauta Citlali 2023

2. ltlachiyaliz tlen Olmequimico Yo Pe Ku Tu 2021

3. ltlachiyaliz tlen Calchihuanih Zapotlacuahtlalianih Nadxiee Lii 2021

4. ltlachiyaliz tlen Mayatlapohuanih K'abel 2019

5. ltlachiyaliz tlen Aztecnonauta Cuauhtémoc Chicuei 2019

Laser Cut Resin Paintings

1. Codex of Citlallicue, Mother of the Star Skirt 2024

2. Cemmani Cemanahuatl 2023 (Private Collection of Jay and Cindy Cabrales)

3. Xiuhpōhualli Anomala 2019 (Private Collection of Cynthia Llamas and Richard Mojica)

4. Centlaliztli tlen calchihuanih Zapotlacuahtlalianih (Apoteosis de la Zapotecnico Ingeniera) 2021

5. Centlaliztli tlen Mayatlapohuanih (Apoteosis de la Mayamatica) 2019

6. Centlaliztli tlen Olmequimico (Apoteosis del Olmequimico) 2019

7. Centlaliztli tlen Aztecnonauta (Apoteosis del Aztecnonauta) 2018

Axihuical Sculptures

1. Starship Itztli (Obsidian Blade) 2024

2. Xopechtli Tlallamiquiliztli Cimientos de la Inteligencia V.2 2023

3. Patolli 2023

4. Nehnehuihquetl tlen quiahocui tlen Aztecnonauta (Analizador de Sedimentos del Aztecnonauta) 2021

5. Temacaliztli tlen atl Galvanizada (Ofrecimiento de Lluvia Galvanizada) Collaboration with Bianca Cabrales 2021

6. Ixayactli tlen Chalchiuhtotolin, Totiotzin tlen temahua huan cocoliztli (La Máscara de Chalchiuhtotolin, Dios de la Infección y la Enfermedad) 2020

7. Nechicolli tllen Anahuac (Naciones Unidas de Anáhuac) 2019

8. La Piñata Cosmica 2019

9. Tanq’uk’uklan 2019

Teoquiyaoatl (Sacred Portal)

Collaboration with Melissa Melpignano (Choreographer/Zapoteknical Engineer), Saul Martinez/ Chris Delgado (Olmechemist), Brianna Garcia/ Jennifer Morales (Mayathmatician), Jensen Springer (Aztechnonaut)

The story of the Axihuical continues through an interactive dance performance and sculptural installation. As the Aztecnonaut breaches the universal membrane between our worlds and scouts the area before bringing in scientists from their world. As they enter our universe they anaylze the area, determining the safety before allowing the others to enter. Once the signal is given, the Zapoteknical Engineer, the Mayathmatician and the Olmechemist follow through one by one, to survey the land. Not as invaders or colonizers, but as explorers and researchers seeking to inspire our world with their/our true potential. The Zapotek inspects the architecture of our world as the Mayathmatician syncs her equations with our universe to sustain their stay, allowing the Olmechemist in to study the molecular composition of our world. As they go through their dance/ survey they celebrate their found similarities and the people they encounter (the audience) bringing them into the dance before returning to their world.

It Came from Beyond the Border

2016-Present

A response to the ever-growing issues in the dehumanization of migrants, the Mexican American Border, immigration and the misconceptions created by political and media rhetoric through a satirical installation in a B-movie, Mexpliotation, Tequila Sci Fi format.

Laser Cut Resin Paintings

1. Fall of Asarco 2019

2. Find Cover! 2019

3. Tender Care Detention 2019

4. Battle in El Chuco 2019

¡Atención! ¡Inmigración!

Pandroids 2019

Digital Collages

1. It Came from Beyond the Border 2016 (Private Collection of Eduardo Diaz)

2. It Came from Beyond the Border 2: Cowboys and Aliens 2017

3. It Came from Beyond the Border 3: Tender Care Detention 2019

4. It Came from Beyond the Border 4: The Great Replacement 2022

5. Battle in El Chuco 2019

6. S.P.I.C.E. (Spatial Perimeter Immigration Custom Enforcement) 2019

7. Tender Care Detention 2019

8. The Wall 2019

9. Futurobada 2021

10. The Megalomaniacs 2022

11. Massacre on UV-LD3 2022

12. The Border is a Weapon 2021

13. The Border that Time Forgot 2024

14. Operation: Lonestar 2024

15. Project 2025 2024

16. The Uncolonized: A Visi in the Parallel 2019

17. Tequila Sci-Fi 2019

18. Tank'Uk'Uklan 2022

19. Milenio: Chicanismos del Futuro 2023

Juegos Fronteras 2013

1. Juegos Fronteras- Full installation view

2. Swing Set Penitentiary

3. Watch Tower Slide

4. Geodome Detention

5. See Distrust Saw Subjugation

6. Merry Go Round Port of Entry

Operation: Al Pastor

1. Techs Mechs: El Guapo (Charles Townsley Private Collection)

2. Techs Mechs: El Jeffe (Alex Rivera Private Collection)

3. Techs Mechs: Spyder (Thomas Strich Private Collection)

4. Dia de los Tacos: La Abuela (Louie Cabrales Private Collection)

5. Dia de los Tacos: La Negra

6. Dia de los Tacos: Los Cuates

7. Taco Rebel: El Diablo (Thomas Strich Private Collection)

8. Taco Rebel: Don Chuy (Thomas Strich Private Collection)

9. Taco Rebel: Beto, el Paletero (Susan Roth Romans Private Collection)

A-Hole in One: Battle Grounds 2020

Help decide the election! Voters are invited to help decide the election by firing at the battle ground states.

This third iteration is inspired by the 2020 election season. With the importance of the election and its decision laying on the battle ground states, viewers are encouraged to help decide the election by firing their choices at the states. Participation required proof of voting with their "I Voted sticker."

A-Hole in One 2017

“The most important decisions are made on the golf course.”

A-hole in one is a commentary on the social acceptance of business deals on golf courses while making comparisons with the 45th President’s golfing tendencies, rapid fire judgmental tweets and executive decisions. Using the outdoor grass field of the MAC, golf greens in the shapes of countries, with the holes being the capitals were laid out on the field under-lit with LED lights. Two arm chairs sat on a hill above with the tee boxes in the shape of the United States. Next to the chairs sat two golf ball launchers, loaded with red and blue LED golf balls. Patrons were invited to partake in a new form of world domination, firing from their chairs while tweeting using the hashtag #aholeinone.

A-Hole in One: Red America 2018

A new iteration of A-Hole in One for the Transborder Biennial 2018 at the El Paso Museum in El Paso, TX.

This version takes into consideration the increase in misrepresentation and rhetoric of the migrant crisis by politicians and the media, and gun culture.

Red America invites the viewer to sit in Executive armchair of America and impose its will on its neighboring country of Mexico.

Axihuical (El Paralelo) 2021

Nechicolli tllen Anahuac (Naciones Unidas de Anáhuac) 2019

A Vision in the Parallel 2019

Quantumcoatl 2022

Project Omeyocan 2023

Teoquiyaoatl 2023 Trailer

Xopechtli Tlallamiquiliztli (Totem of Intelligence) 2022

Codex of Citlatlique, Goddess of the Milky Way 2024

Starship Itztli (Obsidian Blade) 2024

Nehnehuihquetl tlen quiahocui tlen Aztecnonauta (Analizador de Sedimentos del Aztecnonauta) 2021

The reborn god, Yacatecuhtli, protector of migrants and travelers as his mission is misconstrued by the Border patrol.

Five Lights 2023

Five Lights consists of a steel American Flag, with LED flood lights and artifacts from migrants that were deported in the middle of their refugee applications. These objects were donated by a migrant lawyer in Las Cruces who made every effort to find them after their deportation in order to return their belongings. After three years, she was ordered to disposed of the items. We requested that the items be incorporated into art as a means to bring their story and plights to the masses. A judge in Las Cruces agreed and Five lights was created.

Five lights is a reference to a Star Trek episode which was a homage to 1984 by George Orwell. The work speaks to the blinding rhetoric about migrants overshadowing their actual stories of circumstance surrounding their migration.

In Pursuit of Happiness: A Venture in Migration 2024

trials and tribulations migrants undergo as they come to our country. The table the game sits on mimics the border wall in El Paso as a representation of the steady militarization of the border in the last twenty years. The game focuses specifically on the southwest as it is our southern border that is always the boundary of contention. Two to six players can play in different categories of travelers (each with their own set of rules) with the goal of a better life and security in the United States of America. Along with the game, observers will see ai rotoscoped stories of migrants and their journeys.

It is through this “game” (and while there are many more stories that could be added to it) that we can begin a dialogue about this nation of immigrants and the benefits we all contribute. It is that dream of liberty that draws us together as a nation, which are not limited within these borders. As the hopes and dreams reach out to draw those around the world for possibilities of fulfilling their ambitions and builds us into a stronger people.

Rosario de Paso del Aguila 2024

This work references the buoys that have been placed in the Rio Grande to impede migrants coming to the country seeking asylum.

The beads of the rosary mimic the buoys in the river, separated by circular blades much like the ones in the river. While the steel Cross resembles the border wall. The large pendant unifying the beads contains artifacts from migrants who were deported while in the middle of their asylum application.

The crisis of migrants seeking a better life in our country is obfuscated by our media and exploited by our political leaders for their own benefit. SB4 is a prime example. This work attempts to show the hypocrisy in our states leaders claims to Christianity while dehumanizing people in need. Stoking fears with misinformation, rhetoric and misdirection, while pushing laws that endanger the marginalized and underrepresented for their own political gain.

La Frontera es Un Arma 2022

As our border cities are used as political footballs, the people who live there see their worlds change. Migrants are dehumanized as the “other” and sister cities are cut off from each other all for political gain. This sculpture displays an image of U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers conducting a mobile field force exercise on the Bridge of the Americas on July 23, 2019 in the shape of the Continental United States as a spiked border in neon closes off the nation. An apt representation of the fear and hate that is being sowed in the borderlands in the name of security.

Tememos en Proporción a Nuestra Ignorancia 2021

We fear in proportion to our ignorance, this has never been truer, as we see a negative narrative of our borderlands pushed out by the media and political pundits. This sculpture embodies the negative aspects of our borderlands as they bleed out from a Piñata that is encased in a steel fence that mimics out border wall. It hides who we truly are as policies are force upon us by people who do not live here and do not know the dynamics of the borderlands

Tender Care Piñata 2019

The traditional seven-point piñata is a representation of the struggle against temptation and sin. Each point represents one of the seven deadly sins: envy, sloth, gluttony, greed, lust, anger/wrath, and pride with the center representing evil. The candy in the center has been said to represent the good taken from the world. The stick which is used to break the piñata symbolizes love. It is supposed to destroy the sins by hitting and breaking the pinata into pieces. The candies and treats that come pouring out from the broken piñata symbolize the forgiveness of sins and a new beginning.

The Tender Care Piñata takes this meaning and replaces the candy with children wrapped in survival blankets, representing the children taken to detention centers throughout the United States due to the current administration’s immigration stance. The pinata is now a steel cage, unbreakable, unwavering, cold and uncaring.

Juegos Fronteras 2013

“Juegos Fronteras (Border Games)” shows metaphorical restrictions placed upon our future and youth by the placement of borders in an area dependent on the free flow of Cultures. In restricting the flow for safety and security the Playground is rendered useless for those outside and cripples the ability of those inside to truly experience the freedom and joys the grounds encourage.

A-Hole in One

2017-2018-2020

DREAM a Little DREAM 2018 and DREAMcatcher 2019

“No one chooses the circumstances with which they are born into, but we can all choose to make the world better for those who are struggling.” -Nosa

Children’s kiddie rides, that one would see in a mall or grocery store, are a part of our childhood. A happy moment of time that we can look back at fondly. DREAM a Little DREAM and DREAM Catcher reference those moments of time but twist it into a nightmare for those were born into circumstances out of their control yet may have to pay for it in a manner that changes their entire way of life.

Both are a dreamscape of hope invaded by a kiddie ride that has been changed to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement truck and helicopter. Stripping away a hopeful future with the fear of being sent away to another country.

Juegos Fronteras 2013

Batalla en la Frontera 2023

1. La Reina 2. Lil' Sniper 3. La Flaca v2 4. Spooky 5. La Flaca

Operation: Al Pastor 2017

“My culture is a very dominant culture, and it’s imposing and it’s causing problems. If you don’t do something about it, you’re going to have taco trucks on every corner.” -Marco Gutierrez, founder of the group Latinos for Trump

Political power comes from control of the human heart; we believe the way to a person’s heart is through the stomach. We will win you over by your tastes, because of your need of flavor and spice. This is the basis of our strategy of subjugation and acceptance. Our culinary spice bombs will decimate your taste buds, leaving your mouth wanting. It is through carefully planned infiltration, we have invaded your culture, making Taco Tuesday a common phrase, salsa one of the top condiments and avocado a must add-on to your meal. Behold America! The power of the Tactically Appetizing Culinary Offensive!!!

Thoughts and Prayers

Works on Mass Shootings

225 and Counting 2017

225 and Counting- Guns are a large part of American culture. While guns are used widely for hunting and home protection, mass shootings in schools and other public spaces have wrought havoc and tragedy, with little change in the laws to protect citizens. 225 and Counting is a neon AR-15 infinitely repeating itself, representing the number of mass shootings that occur yearly. This sculpture was completed on August 10, 2017, the 222nd day of the year. As of that day, the number of mass shootings in the country was 225.

Years later and nothing has changed for the better.

The Sword and the Stone 2016

The Sword and the Stone is commentary on current open carry and campus carry laws. After speaking with several law enforcement agencies and hearing their views, I wanted to make a piece that made one think about the laws and their purpose. I also wanted to make commentary on individuals in the media who have commented after a tragic shooting, saying they could have saved people had they been there with their gun. The hero complex combined with the story of becoming the greatest knight from King Arthur felt like a perfect blend. Asking the viewer to attempt to be the hero when in reality they are making themselves a target, not only by the shooter but by the officers responding, as they would not know who the "good guy" is. Every knight "worthy" in my piece ultimately is met by a gun shot before they can fully draw the weapon.

M.A.D.D. 2015

Mesa Contemporary Arts Musuem Permanent Collection

A never-ending struggle toward mutual destruction, our society slowly destroys itself as tolerance is twisted and viewed as intolerance and our politicians ride the chaos for their own benefit.

Turn of the Sentry 2014

Fear and sensationalism are rampant in our media today. As problems arise in social and political atmospheres, solutions are spun to benefit political parties or corporate endeavors. Turn of the Sentry is one such solution taken to its furthest extremes. Gun control is a topic that is brought up with every horrific shooting that occurs. Pundits clamor for gun control, while others demand more guns in the hands of teachers and everyday citizens, suggestions of armed veterans or police at school entrances litter the airwaves and all the while who actually benefits?

Turn of the Sentry consists of an automated NERF sentry gun. Using a webcam and an onboard computer, running a tracking system, the sentry searches for a colored logo as it tracks motion in the gallery space. Patrons entering the gallery are tracked by the sentry. The installation is meant to take the current push for automation, as well as play upon the fears from current events in the need for more security.

La Pan Dulce Vida

2012-2014-2018-2020

“Everyone hates Mexicans, but everyone at the same time loves Mexican food,” -Gustavo Arellano

Examining the dehumanization of immigrants through the disassociation of the food we eat and the cultures they are derived from. It is the hope that through the common ground of our tastes and bellies that one could sit and discuss the issues to find a much-needed middle ground.

El Pan Dulce Vida is Angel’s expression of the beauty found in Mexican immigrants through Pan Dulce while our media misconstrues their intent as violent and untrust worthy.

GunSplatter Series