MODERN MASTER ARTIST AND LINEAGE holder Chicome itzcuintli amatlapalli unlocks his mind and spills open her heart.

Chicome Itzcuintli Amatlapalli addresses various profound issues that trouble his spirit as a queer, mixed race and White passing Indigenous artist depicting the vast cosmology of Mesoamerican culture in a world filled with opposing and often hateful views. His mind holds a plethora of wisdom he yearns to share but continues to be met with rejection from certain crowds. In the Mexica or Aztec culture, women we would today understand as "queer" were identified with the word Patlache, or owner of Patlachtli. Patlachtli is a species of wild cacao used to prepare aphrodisiac beverages in ancient times. Sources on this topic are scarce and censored, but Patlache could mean "lesbian" and "trans man", a term to describe a third gender. They are people who are assigned female at birth but take on characteristics associated with the male gender as they age. They are an additional gender, neither male nor female, but who somewhat resemble our modern ideas about trans men. Venture inside the mind of a modern master that our community has the pleasure and privilege of calling our own.

Camera, Editor — Polaris Castillo
Composer — Joelian Sanchez
Special Thanks — Artbug Gallery, Stay Gallery, Tom of Finland Foundation