This series was birthed thanks to a great mentor, colleague, and friend of mine Leslie K. Price.

When pushed to find a meaningful subject I went on a search of myself and my history. I already knew a great deal about my european history as it was the only history taught to me in my public school career, therefore I began to do some research on my indigenous history. On my journey I came across many beautiful, and impacting images from the many Meso American civilizations that inhabited America long before the conquering and colonizing by the Europeans. I came across some of the surviving codices depicting the history, religion and daily life of the Mexica/Aztecs and Maya societies, of which we have the most remaining information about. Sadly the remains are but a grain of sand in comparison to the amounts of information that was lost in the aftermath of the invasion. Countless amounts of codices and monuments of recorded Meso American history where destroyed and an estimated 10 to 25 million indigenous people suffered terrible deaths in the following years under the rule of the Spanish crown. The Spanish in their ravenous thirst for gold, silver, cacao and other precious commodities spared nothing and no one. All veiled under the umbrella of Christianity, the spanish proclaimed “they were trying to save their souls” by bringing the gift of Jesus to the “savages.” All the mean while the real effort was to over throw all of the independent states that coexisted in the entire Meso American territory including Mexico and what is now considered Central and South America. It was sad to learn that most of the information from these advanced cultures had been burned, destroyed, and the oral tradition all but vanished due to the massive loss of life and subsequent forced conversion of indigenous people to Christianity. To add insult to injury I found out that most of the surviving codices and artifacts happen to be owned by private collectors and European governments including Holland, England, Italy and Germany to name a few.

In Meso America art was highly valued, the codices along with wall reliefs, murals and oral traditions were the main tools used to record history. The beauty of the drawings and paintings done by the artists of these cultures are astonishing. While there is a certain aesthetic that is common within each culture, artists added their own personal touch that exemplified their dominance over the general style of their particular culture. It is through the eyes and marks of these artists that I can now begin to see some of the events that unraveled before, during and after the conquest, events that until now seemed to be lost forever. Scenes of life, scenes of brutality, scenes of love, war, and religion are commonly depicted in the codices. My goals is to decipher the remaining codices and piece parts of them together in my art so that I can help reveal more to us about the history and lives of these enigmatic civilizations.

As a direct descendant of this struggle, this so called “clash of civilizations” I personally feel the need to seek out this information. Through the research I have done I have been able to piece together some of the story that was told long ago by the indigenous peoples of this continent. In my approach I have appropriated many of the actual paintings and drawings from these codices to create my compositions and art works. I try to stay true to their style in the reproduction of their work and I add my own touch when I create images that fill in the gaps of the story which I am trying to re tell. In essence I am continuing the traditions of my culture by re telling the story that my ancestors told hundreds and thousands of years ago.

Which of these cultures I am a descendant of? I don't know, most of my history is unknown. What I do know is that my people have been conquered, the land colonized, my history has been almost completely erased and new one has been forged to take its place. It has been created to lie and manipulate people like me and others, it has completely erased the indigenous roots from its history books and created a decidedly european ideological, and ethnocentric system which favors descendants of the colonizers and not the descendants of purely indigenous or mixed “Meztiso” descent like me. We need to have other options out there that offer a different account of history. I want to re tell the story so that I can continue the traditions of my ancestors, that is to keep their memory and culture alive. It would be a great tragedy to forget about this rich, beautiful and tragic past.

In the search of their history and identity young Americans (I speak of the entire American Continent) need to be exposed to their indigenous roots. I want to share this story with the current and future generations of indigenous, mixed, black, asian, & caucasian people. Even those of purely European descent need to learn about indigenous cultures to better understand and coexist with their fellow friends and citizens. We are all in this together, white, black, brown, yellow and everything in between, this is not just about the past but about our present and future. Colonization did not end two centuries ago but it is still manifested in our everyday life through systems of oppression embedded in this new global society. Racism is a direct result of colonization and it exists today, this body of work is to bridge the gap and help erase racism, ignorance and misunderstandings.

In the search for my identity I have unearthed a great project that will keep me busy for a long time, I hope that I can bring honor to the long forgotten artist's which art works I have and will continue to appropriate. I take this journey in the prospect of finding a deeper knowledge and understanding of not only myself but of our kind. This statement will continue to grow as my knowledge and thoughts progress, so please check back soon as we continue on in this journey.

-Vico