Funded by the the San Francisco Arts Commission Street SmARTs Program
18th and Valencia Streets
San Francisco CA
2018
This mural is an hommage to resilience and the divine feminine capacity to heal. Painted with Nova Acrylic, this mural is a vibrant continuation of an ancient story that was carved in stone thousands of years ago.
At the top center of the wall, through a river of water, emerges Coyolxauhqui, the Mexica (Aztec) Goddess of the moon. A 20 foot circular carving of her was unearthed at the bottom of the temple of the God of War, during construction in 1978 in Mexico City.
The story goes that her mother, Coatlicue, or the Goddess of the serpent skirt, was sweeping the temple and picked up a ball of feathers that she placed in her pocket and immediately became pregnant with the God of War, Huitzilipochtli (depicted in the mural as Hummingbirds).
When Coyolxauhqui learns that her mother is about to birth war onto earth, she mobilizes her 400 brothers to attack. As she attempts to sacrifice her mother, her brother Huitzilipochtli jumps out in full battle armor and decapitates her. Her body is thrown down the temple stairs where she lands broken and dismembered.
Huitzilopochtli's reign on earth has been marked by the shift from agricultural to complex societies, forced payment of tribute and taxes to fund the expansion of empire, war, and patriarchy.
In this mural Coyolxauhqui has re-emerged and we have celebrated her rebirth on this wall. She has spent some time with her homegirls, Chalchitlicue, the Goddess of fresh-water rivers, and Tonantzin, the Earth Goddess. They have helped her to heal her wounds and she is whole again. The lines crossing and reaching to all four corners represent Ollin, which expresses movement. It also means heart and life energy. And radiating in the center of Ollin is an ear of maize, which represents the Goddess Chicomecoatl. Corn symbolizes nourishment, prosperity, fertility and new life.