Artist Statement
Perseverance
When the survival of humanity rests on your shoulders, how do you even begin to live up to that? Being graced with the power of gods can be illustrious, but not so much when more and more is expected of you. Born to fight and protect, prepared to lose everything in the name of justice, these four young women must accept the responsibility they were born into, whether they want to or not.
Mythology and culture have always fascinated me. How each culture brought their own gods and magical beings to life in order to explain events they had no explanation for. Heroic stories of demigods and gods are riveting to hear. It’s always amazing how powerful these stories are today as new artists and writers take them into their own hands to redesign or influence their own stories. As I only grew up learning about Greek/Roman and Asian mythology and being intrigued by the heroes and gods within those stories, I began to wonder what kind of otherworldly beings were present in mythology originating in South America. As Aztecs, Mayans, Pipils, etc. were natives to those lands, Central America is ripe with stories scattered about, leading me to research more about them.
I’ve always been interested in my El Salvadorian culture and want to represent it as much as I can in my own work. The Mesoamerican mythology of Central America is very much intermingled within itself, as they have the same Gods but their only differences being their differing names. With this in mind, I wanted to explore Mesoamerican mythology with the Asian mythology. The cardinal gods for Asian mythology are primarily Genbu or the Green Turtle, Suzaku the Red Phoenix, Seiryu the Blue Dragon, and Byakko the White Tiger. In turn, in Mesoamerican mythology the cardinal gods are Tezacatlipoca, Huitzilopochtli, Xipe Totec, and Quetzalcoatl. I was inspired to create my characters as well as their world and tell their stories through tarot cards. These four young women were born with other worldly powers given to them by the four cardinal gods. A different response to the weight of this inheritance was prompted in each woman. Alain is fearful but full of hope but must lose everything. Aaliyah is full of life and has accepted her role fully. Sol has reluctantly become a warrior out of feelings of duty. Vivian always wants more power, more authority.
I primarily focused on basing my sketch and base more traditionally and improving upon it digitally to really encapsulate the other worldly mood and effects I want to convey. I am a very rough sketcher, with this in mind I kept building upon the sketch until I was satisfied and then worked towards a more polished line art. I then began painting over the line art, utilizing bright colors and purple shadows to bring more depth to each piece. Instead of my typical line art and cell shading approach I take with my pieces, I opted for a more rendered look that didn’t include line art, while still retaining the textured brushes I use. These cards are printed, with the lettering done by me personally, as I want them to give a more authentic disposition. They are displayed in two differing sizes, their intended card size as well as a larger print for better viewing and truly seeing all the motifs I implanted throughout each piece.