Antonio Pichillá’s work conjures the chromatic universe of the Maya-Tz`utujil people in Guatemala. His fabric works further refine the abstract patterns found in Maya-Tz`utujil traditional male attire, and experiments with combinations of yellow, red, black, and white colour threads, quoting the natural colour of maize—an important food of cultural value for Amerindian civilisations and present-day indigenous struggles.
By naming some of his pieces after his relatives, the artist honours and celebrates his ancestral heritage which is threatened by cultural extinction. Other works are named after Maya deities, such as Q’uq’umatz, the Feathered Serpent divinity of the Popol Vuh who created humanity together with the God Tepeu.
Born in Sololá, Guatemala, Antonio Pichillá is an artist whose work treads many categories - indigenous, conceptual, contemporary - rejecting any singular one, to engage in numerous global dialogues.
Nudo/Knot
Oil on canvas and handmade textile
2014
Blows and Healing
Single-channel video
2018
Designed & Developed by: Curves n' Colors | Visual identity by: Wkshps
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