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Martine Gutierrez, Demons, Tlazoteotl ‘Eater of Filth,’ p92 from Indigenous Woman, 2018, C-print mounted on Sintra, hand-painted artist frame. 41 1/2 x 28 1/2 x 1 1/2 in. (105.41 x 72.39 x 3.81 cm). Museum Purchase, Greenacres Acquisition Fund. 2019.43
Tlazoteotl is an earth goddess of the Aztecs who both encouraged and cleansed people’s immoral behavior. Literally translated, ‘Tlazoteotl’ means ‘Filth Diety’ which captures both facets of her domain: inciting “filthy” behavior, typically sexual, and subsequently punishing it. She is often portrayed with blackened lips, representing the dirt that she consumes in her role of “eater of filth.” Gutierrez chooses to represent that filth as a black line that trails down her chin, originating in her mouth. That black appears again under her eyes, here representing both those sins that she consumes as well as the tears that she may shed for those sinners. Showing mercy, she would offer people one chance within their lifetimes to confess their sins in a complex ritual involving the offer of molten gold, represented in this work by her golden shoulders and hands.
When considered alongside Gutierrez’s other works in this series, much of the adornment covering Tlazoteol functions as a criticism of colonization, as she now bears what was sought after by those conquerors who laid waste to Aztec land which, in effect, purifies their sin. Here, Gutierrez depicts herself as Tlazoteol, breathing new life into the story of the goddess. Gutierrez, a bi-racial queer woman, focuses on identity as a form of art rather than something reduced to a few descriptive words. She is as she presents herself, not as we choose to describe her.
Sources:
Mansur, Reid. “Tlazoteotl, Eater of Filth.” Martine Gutierrez’s “Demons” and the Queer Latinx Experience, 2019, scalar.usc.edu/works/martine-gutierrezs-demons-and-the-trans-latinx-experience/tlazoteotl-eater-of-filth.
Mingren, Wu. “Tlazolteotl: An Ancient Patroness and Purifier for All Things Filthy.” Ancient Origins, Ancient Origins, 20 July 2018, www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends-americas/tlazolteotl-0010400.
“Martine Gutierrez.” RISD Museum, 2018, risdmuseum.org/art-design/collection/demons-tlazoteotl-eater-filth-p92-indigenous-woman-201941.