Pure Love
Designed and carved stamp.
Ink on fabric.
Fabric measures 3' x 2'
Final solution is a photograph.
"In her book of forty-six almost life-sized Polaroid Reproductions, the Japanese Tattoo Photographer Sansi Fellman explains her attraction to tattoos as an infatuation with Paradox and beauty created through brutal means, power bestowed at the price of submission and the glorification of the flesh as a mean to spirituality." A Natural History of The Senses, Diane Ackerman, p. 56
Statement:
I was inspired to create an ink block pattern on fabric. I placed the fabric over a person's head to show a form of spirituality.
I based my ink block on the Mayan gods and mythology. The first one I thought of was Kinich Ahau. He was the Mayan Sun God, he is one of the most important gods of Mayan mythology. Kinich Ahai is also associated with the jaguar. I carved out a jaguar and underneath it, I placed a sun, not only to represent him as a sun god but as light, time and heat.
For the second design I wanted to show a noticeable pre-Columbian pattern, so I carved a box and some directional lines within it to show energy. The third box is an interpretation of In Lak'ech. In Lak'ech is a symbol of pure love, unity, identification, and the comprehension of the late others and everyone. In Lak'ech translates to "I am the other you" in which they replied "Hala Ken, you are my other me".
The last goddess I portrayed is Ix Chel. Ix Chel is the Mayan moon goddess. She is associated with rabbits as a symbol of fertility and a nod to the lunar landscape. I carved a dragonfly because when Ix Chel dies, dragonflies sing, hovering over her for 183 days. After carving the dragonfly, I placed the moon cycle next to it and a crescent moon on top.