Cosmocolor
During the Cosmos residency while working on the Aztec palette and the códices I was invited by the USALP (Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí) the 19th of august 2026, for a talk entitled Cosmogonía del Color where I explained my approach to colours
Below, the earths: ochre, green earth, umber and red ochre. The ground that holds everything.
At the centre, jade green: what is precious, the heart of the world (el ombligo del mundo).
To the right, red: the east, where the sun rises. Blood, life, birth.
To the left, black: the west. Night and dissolution.
Above, the white ring: breath and eternity. Purfication, calcination after carbonisation
Yellow and ochre descend towards the earth: maize, sustenance. Nourishment, sun rays making the gold grow from the muddy earth.
The columns: transition was the key to understand how the Aztecs percieved colours. Not static, colours were moving states, red blood life to growth and wealth symbolized by the maize yellow.
At the far edge of the cosmos, stardust, moon rays glimpses of silver and gold mixed with calcinated bones.
The wooden bars travel the spectrum of light, from red to yellow and from green to blue, ending in black.
The talk at the MUNI (Museo Universitario de San Luis Potosí) was followed by a time where I asked the audience to circle around hand painted colored discs. The discs were placed according to the Aztec's spiritual connection to the world and to the cardinal points
Genuine Aztecs pigments were used such as cochineal red, Mayan green, maize yellow, bone ash, carbon and genuine white gold guilded accents on wood as to suggest the sun rays.
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