CHALCHIUHTLICUE

“La de la falda de jade” or “Jade Skirt”. Chalchiuhtlicue is the aquatic goddess representing the lakes, rivers and lagoons. A fertility deity central to agricultural society, often represented as both male and female, wearing a skirt and a loincloth simultaneously. Giving birth to floods while having a phallus. Believed to be the true identity of the monolith known as Tláloc by prehispanic art scholars such as Dra. María Teresa Uriarte.

This portrait of La Bruja de Texcoco as Chalchiuhtliluce by makeup artist and photographer Andrés Mañón aka Elektrobelle, is the result of many days of grooming, 4 hours of production and many more spells. I presented the idea to Andrés on a trip to Morelos where we were shooting a music video for an RnB artist. He said he would “love” to do something with La Bruja since he was enchanted by her. The current mexican gay slang “hechizar” links them both as sorceress.

I met La Bruja years ago during a Traición we did at the newsroom of a –now extinct– leftist magazine. Her ritual burning of copal set the venue ‘s fire alarm on blast, it was amazing. Lately we’ve been hanging out a lot: sharing confidencias, riding on her broom/scooter, partying in ‘magic’ circumstances. A few days after taking the picture we did a temazcal together in Texcoco, where she sang her new album across the “4 puertas” the tlazolli lasted. She is obviously the main character of the story.