Explore the objects and concepts that inspired and drove the visual language behind each Aspect and the world of Perdida.

Aspect No. 1 - El Pensamiento.

This Aspects represent a point of origin for the story of A Él Mismo. Within Seyn Zare, the transparent dark space of thought, El Pensamiento, (The T/thought) has one of creation. The starting point, the origin where all else grows from - all other Aspects, ideas, words, all visuals.

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This dark space of thought is visualized through a language of black staples and elongated fringe embellished artifacts, all consuming objects that shroud the subject in a space all their own.

Aspect No. 2 - El del Monte.

This Aspect introduces the exploration of built-in patterns within the stapled textile, with a silver “step” motif inspired by the large steps found at Monte Albán in Oaxaca from my first visit to the site in February of 2020.

It also introduces an internal carrying strap coming from the cropped jacket., exploring modularity in both wearability and creating new silhouettes, allowing the jacket to be worn down and “off the shoulder”.

Aspect No. 3- El Plateado.

Within the world of Perdida, the inhabitants are know as “Los Tumbaga”, their name pulled from the alloy tumbaga, a gold/copper/silver metal alloy widely used in Pre-Hispanic works.

The break down composition of the tumbaga alloy consists of varying proportions of copper, gold, & silver. Though typically in a percentage ratio of 80:15:5.

In an effort to reflect that ratio, the Aspects within the project that represent the Tumbagas are broken into 2 sectors of inhabitants, Los Cobreados (The Silvered ones) and Los Plateados. (The Coppered ones.)

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This is one of the Tumbagas that hail from the Silver Sector of Perdida.

Los Plateados are a small but powerful community, few in numbers they live in a landscape to the south of Perdida, living within the mountains in large structures built directly into the rock bed, giving these Tumbagas direct access to the earth to harvest the silver that they so heavily rely on for their spiritual practices with Los Cobreados.

Aspect No.4 - El Cobreado.

Within the world of Perdida, the inhabitants are know as “Los Tumbaga”, their name pulled from the alloy tumbaga, a gold/copper/silver metal alloy widely used in Pre-Hispanic works.

The break down composition of the tumbaga alloy consists of varying proportions of copper, gold, & silver. Though typically in a percentage ratio of 80:15:5.

In an effort to reflect that ratio, the Aspects within the project that represent the Tumbagas are broken into 2 sectors of inhabitants, Los Cobreados (The Silvered ones) and Los Plateados. (The Coppered ones.)

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One of the Tumbagas that hail from the Copper Sector of Perdida.

Los Cobreados are a much larger community then Los Plateados. They live in a landscape that is lush, their metal structures growing out of the very landscape, that is also rich in copper, which they mine for their spiritual practices with Los Plateados

Aspect No. 5 - El Quimbaya.

Within the world of Perdida, the inhabitants are know as “Los Tumbaga”, their name pulled from the alloy tumbaga, a gold/copper/silver metal alloy widely used in Pre-Hispanic works.

The break down composition of the tumbaga alloy consists of varying proportions of copper, gold, & silver. Though typically in a percentage ratio of 80:15:5.

In an effort to reflect that ratio, the Aspects within the project that represent the Tumbagas are broken into 2 sectors of inhabitants, Los Cobreados (The Silvered ones) and Los Plateados. (The Coppered ones.)

- - -

One of the Tumbagas that hail from the Copper Sector of Perdida.

Los Cobreados are a much larger community then Los Plateados. They live in a landscape that is lush, their metal structures growing out of the very landscape, that is also rich in copper, which they mine for their spiritual practices with Los Plateados

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This Aspects continues the concept of the internal carrying strap coming from the cropped jacket., exploring modularity in both wearability and creating new silhouettes, allowing the jacket to be worn down and “off the shoulder”.

Aspect No. 6 - El Guardián.

In the lore/world building of Perdida, the mixture of a color with black is a mark of Tumbagas who are held in high regards within their societies, those with a connection to the source.

This Aspects opens the door to how I have begun to see & experience my relationship with a Divine source, with my Queerness, how the 2 become 1 in order to create the Self, & how that Self, like El Guardián, exists on a Boarderland, una frontera between the Divine & the Human.

Aspect No. 7 - El Gran Tumbaga.

The coat that is featured in this Aspect expresses the grandeur in the exaggerated length and size of the coat, the intricate boarder embellishments, the 5yrd long staple and yard long fringe embellished belt, the extended silk sleeve cuff, the carrying strap that also features fringe detailing, and finally the oversized hidden seam pockets makes this piece one of the most intricate and versatile pieces.

Aspect No. 8 - El Serpiente.

Historian Mercedes Medina De Pacheco explains in such a beautiful way, the relationship the a Muisca had with gold.

“Gold isn’t what it’s worth, whats worth is the labor that the ancestors put into the material. They came to have such beautiful, sophisticated, and elaborate technique that resulted in a sense of aesthetic so elevated.
They used the gold, as an element that connected them to eternity, as it never corroded or oxidized. For them gold didn’t have a value in wealth or currency, it had it’s value in a spiritual way, and that speaks to the beauty of our ancestor’s spirit.”

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This Aspects introduces Los Divinos, (the divine) they are personifications of myths and practices from the Musica.

In the world of Perdida, Los Divinos are brought forth when Los Plateados y Los Cobreados come together in practice and worship. They are Tumbagas closest to the celestials, the bridge between the physical and the spiritual.

(In reference to the tumbaga alloy being copper and silver mixed with gold to create objects of worship.)

Aspect No. 9 - El Regresó.

This poncho depicts the motif of two golden snakes embracing the wearer when worn wrapped around, and then their faces visible when the poncho is worn down. The snakes symbolizing Bachué & the child as they both return to Lake Iguaque.

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Another Aspect from Los Divinos, (the divine) they are personifications of myths and practices from the Musica.

In the world of Perdida, Los Divinos are brought forth when Los Plateados y Los Cobreados come together in practice and worship. They are Tumbagas closest to the celestials, the bridge between the physical and the spiritual.

(In reference to the tumbaga alloy being copper and silver mixed with gold to create objects of worship.)

Aspect No. 10 - El Iluminado.

Another Aspect from Los Divinos. (the divine)

In the world of Perdida, Los Divinos are brought forth when Los Plateados y Los Cobreados come together in practice and worship. They are Tumbagas closest to the celestials, the bridge between the physical and the spiritual.

(In reference to the tumbaga alloy being copper and silver mixed with gold to create objects of worship.)

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This Aspect is a reimagined take on the Kogi’s dress, seen through the brutalist lens of A Él Mismo. It explores & references their cosmology, and their enlightened understanding & relationship to the Earth & Nature. Through the outfit’s transformation, you see the Aspect starting out as a human, and becoming an extension of the divine, reaching enlightenment, the 3rd Aspect of Los Divinos.

Aspect No. 11 - El Dorado.

El Dorado, often mistaken for a mythical, “Golden City”, is actually a reference that describes a Muisca ceremony that would have taken place on the appointment of a new ruler, the Zipa.

At a ritual at Lake Guatavita near (present-day Bogotá) the Zipa was said to be covered with gold dust, which he then washed off in the lake while his attendants threw objects made of gold, emeralds, & precious stones into the lake—such as tunjos. This ceremony is captured in the image below, La Balsa Muisca (The Muisca Raft), from El Museo de Oro in Bogotá, the Muisca Raft.

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The last Aspect from Los Divinos, (the divine) they are personifications of myths and practices from the Musica.

In the world of Perdida, Los Divinos are brought forth when Los Plateados y Los Cobreados come together in practice and worship. They are Tumbagas closest to the celestials, the bridge between the physical and the spiritual.

(In reference to the tumbaga alloy being copper and silver mixed with gold to create objects of worship.)