Coatlicue: Myth, Identity and Place

COATLICUE: MYTH, IDENTITY AND PLACE

DIANA NORELY FERNANDEZ ORTIZ

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF FINE ARTS

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Fine Arts

MAY 2019

To the Faculty of Washington State University:

The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of DIANA NORELY

FERNANDEZ ORTIZ find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted.

Joe Hedges, MFA, Chair

Michael Holloman, MFA

Kevin Haas, MFA

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to acknowledge those who have helped me with materials, mental roadblocks, those who have offered advice, constructive criticism and words of encouragement. Ramon Deanda,

Squeak Meisel, Brett McElmurry, Joe Hedges, Kevin Haas, Michael Holloman and Chris

Stanley. Thank you.

iii

COATLICUE: MYTH, IDENTITY AND PLACE

Abstract

by Diana Norely Fernandez Ortiz, M.F.A. Washington State University May 2019

Chair: Joe Hedges

My work explores the complexities of identity, culture, indigeneity, and place utilizing Pre-

Columbian Myth and my own personal mythmaking. My intentions in seeking the lost layers of culture in my ancestry come from a position of respect and admiration. Research on my family history and Coatlicue, an Aztec goddess, has moved my work towards the discussion of the mythic Chicano journey to paradise. Coatlicue is a shadow to the Virgin of Guadalupe, a symbol of Mexican identity and therefor represents the theme of resilience and survival in the best way possible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENT...... iii

ABSTRACT ...... iv

LIST OF FIGURES ...... vi

CHAPTER

CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ...... 1

CHAPTER TWO: COATLICUE, A METAPHOR

FOR DUALITY AND RESILIANCE ...... 2

Coatlicue and Erasure ...... 2

Mexican Catholicism and the Virgen of Guadalupe ...... 3

CHAPTER THREE: THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY ...... 5

Shaped by Place ...... 5

CHAPTER FOUR: FAMILY HISTORY ...... 7

Family history ...... 7

Romanticizing Place ...... 8

CHAPTER FIVE: THE ARTWORK ...... 10

Craft ...... 10

Textile ...... 11

Ceramic Platters ...... 12

Ceramic Figure Sculpture ...... 13

CHAPTER SIX: CONCLUSION ...... 14

REFERENCES ...... 15

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1.1: Textile version of Coatlicue ...... 16

Figure 1.2: Ceramic Figure Sculpture ...... 17

Figure 1.3: Ceramic Wall Platters ...... 18

Figure 1.4: Installation View ...... 19

Dedication

Thank you for teaching me that I can do anything I set my mind to.

This is for my mentor Chris Stanley,

my brother Francisco

and most importantly, my mother Eleonora.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION

My work explores the complexities of identity, culture, indigeneity, and place utilizing

Pre-Columbian Myth and my own personal mythmaking. Coatlicue, an Aztec deity, is important to my family, culture, and home in Texas. She represents history, resilience, and continuum. She is a key connection and a reoccurring figure in the discussion of the mythic Chicano journey to paradise, including the survival of indigenous beliefs and practices.

It would be irresponsible to leave out an acknowledgement that my use of Aztec mythology is approached respectfully, acknowledging that my family is not Aztec but a mixture of Spanish and perhaps Apache ancestry. Part of my decision to use Aztec myth stems from the loss of culture that many Mexican Americans have endured and the power of influence that

Aztec culture still has in contemporary Mexico today. Details of my ancestry are buried by the

Spanish who invaded Mexico, buried by the Americans and Texas Rangers who cast out

Mexican and Indigenous people after the territory lines shifted and jumped over people. My culture is buried by my family’s choice to move to the United States and by my schooling which encouraged me to speak English instead of Spanish. My confidence in my identity is buried by my peers who bullied me for not being Mexican enough and by those who bullied me for not being American enough. My intentions in seeking the lost layers of culture in my ancestry come from a position of experience, respect and admiration.

CHAPTER TWO: COATLICUE, A METAPHOR FOR DUALITY AND RESILIANCE

In Aztec mythology, Coatlicue, is the mother of Aztec/Mexican God, Huitzilopochtli.

The story is that Coatlicue, a widowed goddess with a skirt of serpents was sweeping the temple when a tuft of white feathers fell from the sky. She tucked them into her belt while she continued to work. When she got home, she reached for the feathers and found that they were gone, and that she was pregnant. When Coatlicue’s 400 children found out that their mother was pregnant without remarrying, they were disgusted (as her pregnancy brought shame to their family).

Coatlicue was anguished because her daughter Coyolxauhqui, was planning on killing her. But

Huitzilopochtli told his mother, from the womb, not to fear because he would protect her. On the day that Coyolxauhqui led an army to kill Coatlicue, Huitzilopochtli emerged from his mother in full armor and threw his sister off the mountain and chased his 400 siblings until they disappeared. Coatlicue is the earth, Coyolxauhqui is the moon and Huitziopochtli is the sun1.

Coatlicue and Erasure:

In the 1500’s the Spanish Conquest ordered the destruction of all indigenous Mexica statues and buildings. The Mexican people were ordered to destroy their own statues, but they buried them instead. Coatlicue was among the hidden survivors. This Basalt statue was discovered during an excavation in 1790 by the Spanish and quickly reburied by the Spanish because they feared its pagan power would reawaken indigenous religions, they had worked so hard to suppress.

For many within my culture Coatlicue, Tonantzin an Aztec goddess of earth and motherhood, and the Catholic Virgen de Guadalupe are all synonymous. The Basalt sculpture of

1 Jesus Alvararez Constantino. El Pensamiento Mitico de los Aztecas. 42-43.

Coatlicue holds a lot of power, history and meaning. The statue is in the National Museum of

Anthropology in Mexico. It is a carved completely in the round with carefully considered imagery. Coatlicue is seen as the shadow to Tonantzin. The back of the sculpture represents the clean positive aspects of the sacred mother in the form of Tonantzin (this is done with specific symbols) while the front of the sculpture represents the damned qualities of the mother as

Coatlicue. In continued resistance to Spanish colonialism, many people refer to the Virgen de

Guadalupe as Tonantzin. Instead, I’ve chosen to highlight and embrace indigenous Coatlicue and her darkness.

Mexican Catholicism and the Virgen of Guadalupe:

In Mexico and in Mexican Catholicism (worshiping the Virgin is a cultural characteristic of religion2, as well as an “Icon of Mexican consciousness3”. This is the only aspect of religion I acknowledge from my upbringing. Despite renouncing religion, the Virgencita is still an important symbol for me. The Virgin appears on tattoos, t-shirts, blankets, decals on vehicles, figurines of all sizes sold on the streets. In Mexicana Hermosa, performed by Natalia

Lafourcade, the lyrics refer to a “Mexicana hermosa” as the “Bandera Latina.” Most people would assume that Lafourcade refers to the Virgen of Guadalupe. The Virgin of Gualdalupe represents the similarities to Tonantzin who helped many indigenous people survive the religious conquest of the Spanish. The Virgin of Guadalupe is a symbol of freedom and protection of the poor during reforms and fights for independence, and a symbol of the revolution of 19104. My

Great-great Grandfather Cipriano fought in the Mexican Revolution. As I fill in the blanks about

2 Pablo Vila. Border Identifications: Narratives of Religion, Gender, and the Class on the U.S.-Mexico Border. 21. 3 Lynn V. Foster. A Brief History of Mexico. 182. 4 Ibid. 66,110,165.

my family’s history, I must wonder if the connection between the revolution and religion contribute to my family’s traditions today.

CHAPTER THREE: THE SEARCH FOR IDENTITY

Coatlicue symbolizes the dualities within my own identity. I am not entirely Mexican, but

I am also not entirely American either. I remember that school made me feel like I should abandon my first language, Spanish. For some time, I had a difficult and rebellious attitude about speaking only English. My mother had already lived her experiences that forced her to learn

English, but my grandparents didn’t speak English. Pretty soon, I forgot my Spanish. When family would visit, I felt stupid because I could only speak broken Spanish for them.

Francisco Cantu (2018) stated that,

as the second generation forms their own identity, it is more often built within the

new culture rather than the old. By the time they have their own children, it usually

turns out that this third generation is almost totally accepted. They have it easy- the

culture of their grandparent’s adopted country defines them wholly. However,

when they arrive at adulthood, they often begin to look around for something that

makes them unique. And its then that they begin to search for an inheritance, to

look back for the traditions that make them special, and often they realize it isn’t

there. They realize something has been lost along the way5.

Shaped by Place:

I often think about how the border has shaped my family. Some of us can’t cross into

Mexico, some can’t come to the United States. My grandparents applied for residency for themselves and for some of their younger children. Because of their applications, my mother was able to move to the United States. After my brother and I were born in Dallas, Texas, my grandparents needed someone to live with them in Presidio, a small town on the Rio Grande

5 Francisco Cantu. The Line Becomes a River: Dispatches from the Border. 193.

almost six hundred miles southwest of Dallas. My mother decided to move from Dallas to

Presidio and raise us there while she cared for my grandparents. This was a central location because family on either side of the border would have the ability to see my grandparents. There may have been other factors that separated my parents but the border checkpoint approximately sixty miles from Presidio was a major one. My father was undocumented for a long time and I always found comfort in blaming the border and that checkpoint for his absence. His status as a citizen changed, but the absence remained. My mother was a single mother, and many of the women in the community I grew up in were in similar situations. This experience fueled my appreciation for single mothers and a reinforced the concept of worshiping a mother figure.

CHAPTER FOUR: FAMILY MYTHS

Family history:

I recently started research on my family’s history – something that nobody else in my family has done with any seriousness – I found connections to the romanticism of paradise, the myth of Aztlan, and Coatlicue. These are all themes that align with the Chicano concepts of identity that emerged in the 1960’s6. My grandfather, born in Escobillas, Chihuahua, Mexico, was one of twenty-four children, and his father was the last of twenty-two children. My grandparents moved towards a more populated area after they married and started a family. They applied for residency and eventually moved to Presidio, Texas. It is there that my mother cared for them and raised my brother and myself. Her ten older siblings are spread out throughout

Texas and the state of Chihuahua.

Perhaps discrimination persuaded my family to forget the details of our indigeneity. The names and family members of our fathers and grandfathers are remembered. My family has careful documentation of the families of women who were of Spanish blood. Yet our indigenous mothers had their names changed. Their family’s information did not receive the same careful preservation. My family lived in a small village close to the Mexican American border called

Escobillas. Today there are no roads on internet maps that show the way to this location. It seems like an imaginary place to me. Escobillas is made up of other people’s stories and memories. It no longer exists as it did in the 1940’s when my grandfather lived there.

6 Rafaela G. Castro. Chicano Folklore: A guide to the folktales, traditions and religious practices of Mexican Americans. 13.

Romanticizing Place:

When my grandparents were still alive, the family would come together in Presidio quite often. The main event at these gatherings was a trip to the teepee picnic area on FM 107/The Rio

Grande near Terlingua, Texas. This roadside picnic area had offensively generic metal teepees.

My grandfather was in a wheelchair, so we would take the handicap accessible teepee in the middle and spend the whole day there making food, sing songs and telling stories. My grandfather, Don Chon, would tell us kids to get up on the giant rock behind the teepee and look out across the river. At the time, his grandchildren were not aware that it was an important activity or that we were looking out towards our Mexican hometown of Escobillas (it is only about 20 miles from the river). Twenty years later I discovered that the meaning behind the gesture of the picnic, 45 miles out of town, was to sit close to our origin place. After this realization, I became sure of the connection between my family history, my work and where it aligned with concepts idealizing the search for Aztlan, or paradise.

My own curiosity about the land of my ancestors coincides to the myth of Motecuhzoma

I’s curiosity about Aztlan, the origin place of the Mexica Aztecs. In Myths of Ancient Mexico,

Michel Graulich describes that Motecuhzoma’s curiosity was met with a description of Aztlan as told by an old story teller.

The Mecetin (the future Mexica) and the Aztecs “lived in perfect harmony in an idyllic setting where vegetation, fish, colorful birds, and every kind of food were abundant. However, when the Mecetin left that delightful place, everything turned against them. On the mainland, plants stung them, stones wounded their feet, thorns blocked their path, and serpents, snakes and

‘lions’ and ‘tigers’ were everywhere7”. Supposedly Motecuhzoma sent magicians to search for

Aztlan but they could not find the path that would lead them there. After summoning a demon to aid in their search, they arrived to Aztlan, “where they found Coatlicue8”. “The inhabitants of

Aztlan, the Aztec, were surprised to hear that the Mexica who had left them previously had died

– in Aztlan, because of simple and frugal lifestyle, no one had died9”.

Unlike the Chicano movement that began in 1960, I am not using the myth of Aztlan as an empowering symbol of reclaiming identity, indigeneity, and land. In my work, this myth is a specific metaphor for the difficulties that people face when they migrate. It is my belief that the concept of paradise is one that exists in one’s head and not in any physical location. Paradise is awareness, finding happiness in the journey to better opportunities and coming to terms with one’s history.

The detail of Coatlicue residing in Aztlan is not treated like an important one in many books I have read. It is, however, an important connection for me.

7 Michel Graulich. Myths of Ancient Mexico. 212. 8 Ibid. 212. 9 Ibid. 213.

CHAPTER FIVE: THE ARTWORK

Craft:

People expect Mexican artists to talk about craft in relation to their work. Recognizing the fact that craft in Mexico varies by region is very important. My connection to Mexican craft is the handful of times my family visited the markets in Chihuahua, Chihuahua and whatever my family practiced. The history of the craft that I grew up around was utilitarian or for entertainment. My great-great grandfather hand-sewed clothing for his 24 children and their children. My grandfather used to make wooden marionettes. My grandmother made soap. My mother grows bottle gourds and paints them.

When I was younger, my grandmother taught me how to hand-sew new clothes for my dolls. She also taught me simple embroidery. I would watch her sew at the machine, and later after she passed away, I watched my mom sew at the machine. My mother told me that my grandmother would make soap and trade it for textiles so she could make clothing for her family.

I taught myself how to use a sewing machine so that I had something to do. My aunts and my mom complimented me for learning and would say it made them happy because it reminded them of their mother.

Ironically, when my grandmother made soap, there was some part of the process where she would boil her solution. My mother said she would make clay pots and place them in the fire whenever she had a chance.

Textile:

The front of the Coatlicue sculpture highlights her position as a figure of duality.

Omitting the back of the sculpture which represents Tonantzin, the positive aspect of Coatlicue, removes the concept that Coatlicue is the negative. Because the Basalt Statue of Coatlicue has been viewed as terrible and through a lens of fear, I clothed my version of Coatlicue in beautiful textiles of different colors and textures. The goal was to keep Coatlicue’s power while celebrating her being. These bright colors, the softness of the textiles and the sway of the quilt style drawing Coatlicue of the present, in a bold yet approachable way.

When walking up to the piece I want color and scale to be the first impression. There are vibrant blue-greens, mint greens, and various shades of blue framing the composition. Quilting lines served two purposes, the fabric was given more dimension and texture and there was an opportunity to use machine embroidery to draw on the fabric. Symmetry is emphasized through carefully considered use of orange, pink and red.

Other artists who have used Coatlicue in their artwork have not altered her design in any way. Because Coatlicue’s image holds so much meaning and power, I decided that changing the medium from basalt stone to soft textile is the most important aspect of altering Coatlicue.

Coatlicue’s head is the subtle joint of two snakes that emerge from her shoulders, their bodies curving outward and then meeting in the center. This abstraction reads as two snakes meeting, but also as one symmetrical, serpentine face. Her eagle eyes are bright, made of

ceramic tiles and her tongue creates the visual connection between the two snakes and their formation as one face. Her chest is adorned with a necklace made of hearts, hands and her own skull. Around her waist is a belt made of more serpents. This shape echoes the rolls of her

belly which signifies that she is a mother and reminds the viewer of her status as a warrior. In

Aztec mythology, when a woman died during childbirth, the experience was likened to a warrior’s death in battle10

On Coatlicue’s arms and legs, eagle eyes made of ceramic tile adorn the serpentine features. The large teeth on her limbs indicate that as the earth, she gives us life and then eats us when we die. Her arms and legs are adorned with beads. Coatlicue’s arms have hanging banners while her legs have feathers attached at their sides.

The verticality of the snakes hanging from her belt bring the eye downward, reading her skirt as a woven tangle of serpents, their rattles adorning her skirt. Coatlicue is known as the one with the serpent skirt and this feature was the most important one in identifying her when she was unburied because pieces of other sculptures like Coatlicue have been found- one had hearts on her skirt. Coatlicue was the only sculpture found in one piece, but I have chosen to create her in detachable pieces as a small reminder that there are four more goddesses who died at childbirth like her, known as Cihuateteo, servants of the Creator Goddess Cihuacoatl.

Ceramic Platters:

I chose to accentuate certain features of the textile Coatlicue in the form of six ceramic platters.

The skull at Coatlicue’s hips symbolizes her body, I have adorned the ceramic platter with snakes to symbolize duality. Adorned with Quetzal feathers, which symbolize sacredness and preciousness, the heart platter represents passion and heartache. A set of hands symbolizes sacrifice, offerings and acceptance. Finally, the two snakes signify my connection to both sides of the river.

10 Guilhem Olivier. “Why Give Birth to Enemies?” The Warrior Aspects of theAztec Goddess Tlazolteotl-Ixcuina. No. 66/65(2014): 55-71. 58.

Ceramic Figure Sculpture:

The figure in this installation is a representation of myself, or any other Mexican

American female that can relate to the themes my artwork speaks to. The lack of color in the female figure suggests that she is ready to offer herself and to receive Coatlicue’s concepts and colors. The female figure faces Coatlicue with extended hands, acknowledging her presence and lasting power. The figure has a skirt of serpents, suggesting that she already began to receive

Coatlicue or perhaps that she is also a human manifestation of Coatlicue. There is a nod to Gloria

Anzaldua’s Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza – Chapter 4 The Coatlicue State, which describes this Coatlicue State as one of consciousness, feeling complete and unafraid.

CHATPER 6: CONCLUSION

Coatlicue, “like my race, is a synthesis of the old world and the new, of the religion and culture of the two races in our psyche, the conquerors and the conquered11”.

I would not have made the connections that were made or unburied some of the information that I unburied without the research for this writing and for the artwork that accompany it. It was that piecing together of information that strengthened the meanings of the concepts I was exploring in my artwork. The research and the making were happening simultaneously. A formal decision for the artwork would spark a question that led to research, which reinforced the decision-making in the artwork and new discoveries for the artwork itself.

11 Gloria Anzaldua. Borderlands: The New Mestiza = La Frontera. 30.

REFERENCES

1. Alvarez Constantino, J. (1977). El pensamiento miticó de los aztecas (1.st ed.). Morelia,

Méx.: Balsal Editores.

2. Anzaldúa, G. (1987). Borderlands: The new mestiza = La frontera (1st ed.). San

Francisco: Spinsters/Aunt Lute.

3. Cantú, F. (2018). The line becomes a river: Dispatches from the border (1st ed.). New

York, New York: Riverhead Books.

4. Castro, R. (2001). Chicano folklore: A guide to the folktales, traditions, rituals and

religious practices of Mexican Americans (1st ed.). Oxford; New York: Oxford

University Press.

5. Foster, Lynn V. A Brief History of Mexico (1st ed.). New York: Facts on File, 1997.

Print.

6. Graulich, M. (1997). Myths of ancient Mexico (Civilization of the American Indian

series ; v. 222) (1st ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.

7. Olivier, Guilhem""Why Give Birth to Enemies?" The Warrior Aspects of the Aztec

Goddess Tlazolteotl-Ixcuina." Res., no. 65/66 (2014): 55-71.

8. Vila, P. (2005). Border Identifications: Narratives of religion, gender, and class on the

U.S.-Mexico border (Inter-America series) (1st ed.). Austin: University of Texas Press.

Textile Version of Coatilcue:

This textile quilt references the basalt sculpture that I have represented in my artwork.

Coatlicue Hermosa. textile, ceramic tiles, plastic beads, metal, plexiglass. 5’x 11’. 2019.

Ceramic Figure Sculpture:

This figure sculpture is the manifestation of self in this

Yo Te Ofrezco. Ceramic. 20”x 22”x 36”. 2019.

Ceramic Wall Platters:

These platters are placed on the wall in an organic arrangement.

From Top to bottom, Left to Right: Mis Manos, Mi Ser (pientes), Mi Corazon, Y Mi Vida. All approximately 20”x 22”x 4”. 2019.

Installation View: