GERARDO Q GARCIA

My name is Gerardo, I’m a second-generation Chicano artist from San Antonio’s west side. Surrounded by art as a youth, I often volunteered with as many public art projects as I could, working alongside much more experienced artists. These years along with my time as an art educator proved essential to my employment as a mural coordinator from ’06-’09. Since then, I have been a full-time tattoo Artist at Calaveras Tattoos in downtown San Anto. Painting & tattooing have been my primary media for over 20 years. As a professional artist, I’ve found that versatility in style & subject matter are essential, but most often, I find that my favorite artistic creations contain cultural symbolism. 

  When approached about painting a skull, I automatically thought of the concept of life & death & the day of the dead with a focus on iconic Aztec imagery.

DE LAS ESTRELLAS, HASTA LA TIERRA

This piece is entitled “De Las estrellas, hasta la tierra” or ” “of the stars, to the earth”. The title is in reference to the fact that we, as humans, are made of star dust & upon death, we feed the earth with our physical remains. The faces in the back of the skull are references to an aztec sculpture which portrays the human life cycle. The feathered serpent (Quetzalcoatl) & The Xoloitzcuintle dog (xolotl) are twin deities representing life & death, or night & day. The image at the bottom of the back of the skull is Tlaltecuhtli, the aztec earth monster, waiting to be fed. The skull’s face is painted after an ornate mosaic skull depicting Tezcatlipoca, a deity who represented creation while requiring human sacrifice. Finally, I included the cicada, as a nod to San Anto & south Texas but also as a symbol of an organism with a very opposite life experience to our own. The majority of its existence being spent inside the earth, it only lives above ground for a short while. It has become a reoccurring element in my artwork & it’s connection to the earth made it an appropriate symbol for this piece. I appreciate the opportunity to create this piece as my contribution to the greater project.