“Mayan Water Lily Jaguar”
coffee & acrylic on unprimed canvas
32×34” (81x86cm)
2022
private collection
-prints available-
20×22″ (51x56cm)
Run of 30 (2°)
$75
In Mayan mythology, the Jaguar is revered as a guardian and intermediary between the physical and spiritual realms. Based on my understanding and personal experiences, these spiritual realms align with the places visited during out-of-body experiences, often inhabited by angelic beings. The Mayans had a positive relationship with psychedelics, including psilocybin (commonly known as magic mushrooms), which suggests that their spiritual realms may have referred to these transcendent experiences.
The painting itself portrays a Jaguar adorned with water lilies, employing the chromatic aberration effect to symbolize the Jaguar’s role as the protector of extraordinary realms. Adjacent to the Jaguar, on the left side of the artwork, a figure is depicted deeply engrossed in one of these mystical encounters.
Additionally, the canvas incorporates ground coffee beans sourced from the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, where my father was born and raised. Using these beans, I brewed coffee and painted the circular designs with it. While these patterns do not possess inherent significance, they pay homage to the logoglyphs and phonoglyphs employed by the Mayans as a written language. Over centuries, the meanings of these glyphs were lost due to persecution by European invaders in the 16th century. Similarly, the intentional presence of the coffee circles in this painting implies meaning, even though there may be no one to decipher it.
Lastly, the frame of the artwork is crafted from Santos Mahogany, a tree indigenous to Central and South America.
Robert Castillo 