Morelos León Celís, Ilhuicamina, 2015

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Ilhuicamina is part of the Materia Solar project carried out by León Celis in the Mixtec region of Oaxaca in Mexico. The works that make up the project address the symbolic representations of the Sun as a common material among Mesoamerican societies. This piece specifically addresses the pre-Hispanic symbolism of Moctezuma-Ilhuicamina, which in Nahuatl means Arrow of the Sky (Ihuícatl: sky and Mina: arrow), and also refers to the Mixtec mythology around the character of the Arrow of the Sun or Yacoñooy. From the intervention and appropriation of materials from rural Mexico, the artist seeks to develop an ethic of the objects of each territory, through a balance between poetry and politics. The artist's critical intention is based on the use of handmade materials along with mass-produced and industrially produced objects, which implicitly reflect on art and craftsmanship today and what they represent economically and culturally for Mexico.

Alain Servais loved the way Morelos León Celís was opening him up to an incredible and infinite Mexican culture and traditions with some many stories to tell through materials directly originated in daily life, as is the case of the basic material in this work. Known as a “petate” since ancient times, the rectangular or square mat of braided palm-leafs that is at the center of this work has been used traditionally as a support to sleep under any circumstance. It is also known that until the XXth century, petates were used to wrap the bodies of the deceased. The petate was thus used throughout someone’s life, from the craddle to the grave. 

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Morelos León Celís, Oaxaca, 1981

Based on inquiries into the concepts of origin and history, Morelos León Celis develops projects around specific situations, topics, spaces and territories; the elaboration of sculptures, paintings and video installations that constitute his artistic work are a consequence of his profile as a research artist, in which he situates his creative practice. His work focuses on the observation and study of the interstice, that is, the space between two parts of the same body; interstices where the artist activates processes and strategies of intervention and appropriation of symbolic and iconographic materials from rural or peripheral regions to establish a series of intersections between the artisanal and the industrial, the personal and the political.

Morelos León Celís: @morelosleoncelis

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Ilhuicamina fait partie du projet Materia Solar réalisé par León Celis dans la région mixtèque d'Oaxaca, au Mexique. Les œuvres qui composent le projet traitent des représentations symboliques du soleil en tant que matériau commun aux sociétés mésoaméricaines. Cette œuvre s'inspire du symbolisme préhispanique de Moctezuma Ilhuicamina, qui signifie en nahuatl Flèche du ciel (Ihuícatl : ciel et Mina : flèche), faisant également référence à la mythologie mixtèque autour du personnage de la Flèche du soleil ou Yacoñooy. 

Par l'intervention et l'appropriation de matériaux issus du Mexique rural, l'artiste cherche à développer une éthique des objets de chaque territoire, à travers un équilibre entre poésie et politique. L'intention critique de l'artiste est fondée sur l'utilisation de matériaux faits à la main à côté d'objets produits en masse et industriellement, qui portent des réflexions et des débats implicites sur l'art et l'artisanat et leurs implications économiques et culturelles dans le Mexique contemporain.

Alain Servais a apprécié la manière dont l'œuvre de Morelos León Celís, à travers des matériaux simples et quotidiens, offre au spectateur un accès direct aux aspects traditionnels et aux récits préhispaniques circonscrits dans la culture mexicaine. L'élément central de l'œuvre est connu sous le nom de petate, une natte en fibre de palmier tissée qui sert de support pour se reposer ou dormir sur tous les terrains. L'utilisation du petate s'étendait du berceau à la tombe, dans les zones rurales, c'était l'enveloppe qui protégeait le corps du défunt, d'où l'origine du verbe petatearse qui signifie mourir au Mexique.