Artist Statement
My artistic work is founded on cultural-biology and living systems theory, specifically the biology of desires. I see emotions as complex integrated adaptive systems. Emotional systems are at the epicenter of the human experience.
I believe art-science should facilitate self-liberation processes to heal and transform individuals, organizations and communities.
Synapsis 2013
Projection of drawings in a 4 x 6 x 4 mts room
Relational Art Performance
Galeria Delirium, Mazatlán, Sinaloa
For me art operates through observer’s mind-body interactions. My ultimate goal is to create generative experiences of well-being that transforms the observer by expanding his or hers sensitivities and sense of belonging.
Mexican Ethics Code
Book and notebooks 2011
18 x 25 x 3.5 cm
Open urban provocations 2o11
Aviso en papel bond 27.94 x 21.59 cm
May 2011 - June 2012
Tijuana, Baja California, México.
Therefore my focus is on the intersection between live art, social transformation, spirituality and biology. I believe that reflection on bodily sensations, emotions and desires are the ultimate constitutive components of the human psyche, therefore a path toward self-liberation.
Social Transformation Portal
Acto de bio-psico magia
Marzo-Mayo 2022 Festival Amo La Paz
Galería Alive, La Paz, BCS, México.
I design bio-pyscho-magic experiences that bypass the unconscious to bring new insights, human connectedness and awareness.
This portafolio shows 2 recent projects that are representative of my work.
The Biology of Will.
Habituation and conformity with the status quo stabilizes peoples emotional systems. Longings and deepest veiled desires constitute potential energy that is constricted over time due the operation of emotional contradictions that inhibit action. Energy seems to be unavailable constrained by the psyche and stuck due to one or more emotional contradictions. It is through two linguistics operations and reflection that longings may be transformed into desires, producing entropy in the living system. Through a harmless and simple self-guided exercise participants’ are able to integrate their psyche and overcome the paradoxical nature of their own emotions that may be constricted due to frustration, resignation or resentment. The intra-psychic effect of art unifies emotions, body, and mind, recreating the sense of oneness and interconnectedness. Furthermore, the realm of imagination and the symbolic language evoked during the transformational ritual, opens possibilities to create a structural changes in participants emotional systems. This changes can go from an ephemeral transformation, to continuing cultural transformation process inspired by Animal archetypes and a continuing reflection process including mind-body interactions. In summary the performance constitutes a self-liberating process driven by participant's biology of will.
2. Animalia: Live Art platform as means for self-liberation.
For the last 4 years I have experimented with performance art to analyze and explain bio-pyscho-cultural phenomenons focused on emotional well-being and mental health. My research is founded on Maturana's cultural-biology, and a systemic emotional framework that I developed. To produce data and test generative mechanisms, I had created a transformational game practice entitled Animalia. Animalia is a transformational game that enhances intuition through emotional expression and the embodiment of desires represented by Animals.
Honoring Maturana 2021
Live Art Memorial to Honor Humberto Maturana's Legacy
Ceremonia Animalia-Oceloyotl 2023
Performance de arte relacional
Tepoztlán, Morelos
Presented at Harvard Divinity School.
Revisiting Mexico's Ancient Spiritual Traditions: A Path to Inspire Modern Life and Overcome Colonialism and Patriarchy
Our current historical moment demands awareness and compassion to deliberately transform ourselves from the extractive, exploiting and aggressive nature of colonialism in favor of kindness, equality, and inclusiveness. In accordance, we believe that Mexico’s Ancient Nahual Spirituality — a pre-colonial complex belief system rooted in a sacred relationship with nature— can serve as a guide. Nahual’s philosophy, alive in today’s Mexican contemporary culture, has survived 300 years of Spaniard domination that turned Mexico into a predominant catholic country. Beyond syncretism, Nahual spirituality thrived through the oral tradition. Abuelas transmitted from one generation to the next a belief system deeply intertwined with the history and cosmology of indigenous groups such as Olmecas, Mexicas and Mayas. This millennial spirituality has been preserved through a myriad of rituals, such as Cacao and Temazcal Ceremonies, Plant healing, Spiritual Animals, etc. Nahuales now guide new generations on alternative ways to embrace peace, compassion, courage and the will to reclaim the authority to lead a peaceful and loving cultural transformation. Due the pre-colonial nature of Nahualism, it honors values that are in opposition to the European patriarchal mindset that lead to Colonialism; e.g. abundance and a sacred relationship with nature versus scarcity, extraction and exploitation; unity among masculine and feminine, and the veneration of feminine (Tonanzin) versus domination and hierarchy above feminine. Ometeotl, God and Goddess of duality, embodies oneness and interconnectedness, representing the interplay and balance between opposing forces, such as light and darkness, life and death, creation and destruction. This duality is seen as the driving force behind the cosmos. Ceremonies invoking and honoring Ometeotl aim to maintain harmony, seek guidance, express gratitude for the blessings of life. For example, during the Nahual Seven Directions Blessing, participants offer gratitude, prayers, and intentions for the specific energies associated with each direction. Ollin (East) invoques clarity and insight; Cuauhtli (West), guidance through life's changes and personal growth; Coatl (South), is linked to the element of fire and represents passion, creativity, and the vitality of life; Cipactli (North), represents stability, wisdom, and abundance; North invokes for grounding, strength, and prosperity; Ihuan Ahuitzotl (Heaven), represents the spiritual realm and the connection to the divine; Tlaltecuhtli (Earth), symbolizes the physical world and the nurturing energy of Mother Earth. Finally, Tonalli (Human Hearth) represents the inner world, emotions, and the sacred center of the individual.
Animalia-Cacao Ceremony
Harvard Divinity School
Cambridge, Massachusetts
April, 2024
Jagualicano 2023
45 x 40 x 27 cm
Alebrije de Papel Mache
Elaborada en colaboración con Irwin Mondragon
Dr Pelícano
Juan Pablo Alfredo Sánchez King
Feb, 2024.
Instagram Doctor_Pelicano
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