Artist Statement

​

"Perros Sagrados y Sus Chamanes" serves as an evolution of my Legends series, constructing a contemporary mythology that reimagines the iconographies of the Day of the Dead. At the heart of this narrative is a journey of profound healing and transformation centered in the space of Nepantla. Originating from 16th-century Nahua philosophy to describe being "in the middle of things," the concept was later redefined by the philosopher Gloria Anzaldúa as being "torn between ways." For Anzaldúa, and within my own work, Nepantla represents the liminal crossroads—the awkward, often painful "in-betweenness" experienced when navigating the bridge between two distinct cultures or countries.

​

In this series, I introduce a masculine healer—a Shaman—to guide a darkly glamorous, Zapatista-masked woman through this transition. To survive the passage of Nepantla, she must undergo a ritualistic death, killing off the parts of her identity that no longer serve her evolution. Utilizing a visual language of xoloitzcuintles and spirit warriors inspired by Huichol traditions, the work explores a landscape populated by healers searching for nepantleros—those currently caught in the struggle of the middle. Through these figures, the series transforms ancient motifs into a modern allegory for personal sovereignty and cultural alchemy.