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Day of the Dead
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Solo Vinimos a Dormir, Solo Vinimos a Soñar
(We Only Come to Sleep, We Only Come to Dream)
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Drawings by Los Angeles-based artist J. Michael Walker
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An Aztec song of the dead says, "It is not true that we live long on this earth; We only come to sleep, we only come to dream."
This piece gathers elements from pre-Columbian, Catholic, and popular cultures to illuminate the rich mixtures of influences at play in the celebrations of Día de los Muertos.
At left, Miyálcuitl, the Aztec god who rules over the festivities for the dead, stands beside an elderly woman wrapped in her rebozo. Before them play a pair of mariachi calaveras, intent on serenading the dead.
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Day of the Dead
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by J Michael Walker, 2000
Color pencil on paper, 50" high x 98" wide
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A young girl leans over to pour water onto the flower petal altar, lending it life through the night of November first. Below her we see the terracotta figure of Xólotl, the Tarascan god of the dead who, disguised as a dog, accompanies the dead on their voyage to the afterlife. Xólotl is also known as the brother of Quetzalcoatl.
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Arising from the altar is a white crucifix of wrought iron, of a type often seen in Mexican graveyards. Borne thereon is the powerful black Christ, el Señor de Esqúpilas, masked by a traditional sugar skull.
As the red sky enfolds the setting sun, we see la Chalupa, a popular figure in the children's game of La Lotería, guide her fruit- and flower-laden canoe through the air above the altar, representing the return of the spirits of the dead on their annual visits to their familial home.
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