El Nahual | Carlos Marquez

September 6 – 29, 2024 | focus GALLERY

OPENING RECEPTION: FRIDAY, September 6, FROM 5:30 – 7:30 P.M., WELCOME AND ARTIST INTRODUCTIONS AT 6:00 P.M.

Artist Statement

I have chosen to label my gallery showing El Nahual. A nahual is a man that can change shape at will into any creatures he chooses. A nahual is a man who is learned in the culture of shamanism, sorcery, witchcraft, medicine man and other names. In Spanish this man is called a brujo, a diablero, and is associated with pre-Hispanic Mexican culture. Being a nahual is the culmination of the practice or sorcery and has been known for thousands of years until this day. A nahual is a man of knowledge and discipline. Like a nahual I have chosen to live on the path of knowledge, spirituality and enlightenment. These titles are directly connected to my conception of art. My art is always evolving, may it be the skill, the style, or the quality of my work. As an artist I am always changing spiritually, mentally, and physically, like El Nahual. As a nahual I have carried out my life as an artist with learning. I love to write poetry and let my heart and soul flow through existence. I love listening to all genres of music and I am always on the search for new artists and styles. I love to immerse myself in the world of film in all subjects. I love old stop motion films as well as anime and foreign films. I love to take the time during the day to read a book that truly interests me, a book that I have chosen for myself. And at last my artwork. I have been doing art since I was a child. I started out by drawing with pencil and paper all the weird things that kids draw, like houses, people and animals. At an early age I began to work with playdough creating models of birds and insects as well as horses and little people in the way that I saw them. As an older human being I began to be influenced by different art forms and artists. I love abstraction and surrealism and everything in between. I make art in all materials and forms and I shapeshift my work into every form that I imagine. Like a nahual I am not able to physically shift form but I can shape my mind and thoughts through my art.