My name is Narciso M. Elizalde. I am from Hidalgo, Mexico, originally indigenous lands still inhabited by displaced Nahua, Hñähñu, and Yùhu peoples (whose blood runs through my veins). For the past few years, I have lived and worked in and around what is now known as Cedar Rapids and Iowa City, in the USA state of Iowa, which is stolen Indigenous land. I earned my Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Iowa in 2013, and I have participated in several exhibitions in Eastern Iowa since then at PS One, Legion Arts, DAAC, DIY music and art shows, and several others.

I work with polymer clay to make low and high-relief style sculptures. These sculptures are composed of vibrant swirling color combinations and depict scenes that generally include humans and other-than-human beings performing actions of traditional Mesoamerican ritual, especially related to themes of world renewal and participation in universal networks of relations, as expressed through Flower Worlds’ spirituality and related signification systems. For Indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica and Southwest US, Flower Worlds are essentially ideal, yet experientially real, deified embodiments of the sacred living Earth as transcendent yet immanent prodigious cosmic expressions of abundance, positivity, healing, and renewal in the living environment. Furthermore, Flower Worlds can be conceptualized as extremely sacred locations, multifaceted agential dimensions of the living universe, and as highly cherished generative qualities of the cosmos. In Mesoamerica, and throughout the Indigenous Americas, the forces and processes that generated and maintain the cycle of life renewal in motion, have long been and still are elevated to divine status of the highest degrees. 

The themes that inform my work revolve around traditional Indigenous ritual practices, spirituality, and related forms of expression, often known as Costumbres, the "Old Ways," as practiced and created throughout what is now called Mesoamerica, from times immemorial to the present. The highly significant philosophies and noble values expressed through these ancestral practices and creative productions are among my most important sources of inspiration, not only for creative endeavors but for many other aspects of life. From extreme antiquity, the diverse expressions of the prodigious Old Ways, such as Flower World spirituality, reveal that Indigenous peoples across what is now called the Americas have honored the past and the ancestors, have respected the natural environments we are all ultimately part of, and have worked to exist in harmony with the natural processes and cycles of inhabited areas as much as possible. By integrating ritualism into these and other endeavors of life, the latter are elevated to spiritual work of divine degrees with effects of cosmic magnitudes. Through these virtuous modalities of cognition and operation, the synchronization of inner and outer processes is catalyzed, resulting in the experiential unification of the person, the community, and the rest of the cosmos into a harmonious totality in constant renewal. These sophisticated ancestral Indigenous expressions and wisdom are more relevant now than ever. As global capitalist powers continue to devastate the biosphere, it is precisely these exemplary traditional values and practices that provide, as they always have, viable alternatives to the shortsighted and destructive ways in which capitalist culture engages with natural environments throughout Mother Earth. 

I strive to incorporate these great Indigenous ideals in my work as a humble attempt to contribute to their diffusion and conservation. My intention is to implement the sculptures as vehicles for the communication of these brilliant Old Ways and values so that in turn they can enrich and inspire others, and more importantly, so that others might understand the transcendence of such exemplary Indigenous expressions and wisdom as effective remedies for present-day cancerous capitalist predation.

The work presented here is a homage to and a celebration of ancient and contemporary Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas, who have thankfully maintained the flame of these immensely valuable traditions alive into the present. Furthermore, my work is also an expression of my most heartfelt gratitude for said honorable peoples, who’s innumerable and profound contributions to the world incalculably enrich the human experience.