The Codex Chitipati

I've started on a group of works called The Codex Chitipati. It's kind of a fusion of Mexica deities, Mexica codices and some overtones of Himalayan imagery, among other things. The Chitipati were a brother and sister who were deep in meditation near a charnel ground when a murderous brigand decapitated them. They became, as I understand it, guardian spirits.

The Codex Chitipati is a series of portraits of Mexica Deities. I started with Xipe Totec. Xipe Totec is sometimes called The Flayed One which I suppose connects him to  both Marsyas and to certain depictions of flayed skin in Tibetan art. Xipetotec is also similar to Skinless Julia in Hellraiser 2.

This is a sketch for Xipetotec. I have a large number of these paper Halloween skeletons. They're kind of old and falling apart so I thought that I might have to recycle them. They're a real nice classic kind of  Halloween decor, some thing I remember from my childhood,  so I thought it worthwhile to extend their lives, in a manner of speaking. 

Dancing Xipetotec. There is a group of West African Masks that are marked in patterns  like the muscles of the human face. That's what the dancing skeletons are wearing. This is part of an artist's book. On the other side, is the image shown in  the blog post We Became Snakes.

Xipe Totec: A Page from the Codex Chitipati. It's quite a large page, measuring 41 inches by 57 inches.

I've moved on to Xochipili.

You can see these works at La Casa Azul Bookstore from October 22 until November 23, 2013. http://www.lacasaazulbookstore.com/

Dancing Xipe Totec

Study for Dancing Xipetotec