Artwork Description
Fausto Fernandez – Xolotl
Dimensions: 36 x 60″
Year: 2018
Media: collage, acrylic, oil sticks, spray paint on canvas
Fausto Fernandez’s 2018 piece Xolotl derives its inspiration from Aztec mythology. Xolotl was the god of lightning, fire, and death. His duty, much like Hades in Greek mythology, was to guard the sun as it traveled to the Underworld every night. He is also the twin of Quetzalcoatl. Fernandez shows this connection to the Underworld through deep blacks and a highly different rectangle of color on the bottom of the piece.
Fausto Fernandez is a mixed media collage artist whose works include a variety of paintings, public art, and community engagement projects, through which he explores the relationship of nature and technology as they intersect with human behavior. Materials used include wallpaper, asphalt, spray paint, acrylic paint, and laserjet transfers. Instructional materials, such as schematics and blueprints, provide meaning to his work. Fernandez’s artworks are a reflection of his identity, challenging the cultural environment in which he was raised along the border of Mexico and the United States. He explores the unique ways in which people communicate and express themselves as individuals within society, and attempt to capture the essential ingredients of wonder that exceed the limits of multicultural border subjects.