The Water God

By Robert Friedman

 

 

Recently, the members of the Catskill Artists Gallery were discussing how important the concept of “water” is in life, the earth and in the visual arts. We decided to try and use the idea of water as an element in our work.

 

Having visited Mexico and especially Yucatan, I was familiar with the Mayan god of rain and water, Chaac, always represented with his fantastically elongated nose.  He appears often in temple stone sculptures, but also in painted pottery designs.  What a great image to work with -- but how to translate it?

 

I found pictures of Chaac on the internet and decided to adapt them into a two-dimensional piece that would suggest a carved relief.  It was an exciting task to create a really striking image that would be true to its original form.  Here is a photo of the work in progress.

 

To get back to our theme: social and political problems involving water are major topics of concern these days. Flooding, droughts, rising seas and the decreasing supply of drinkable water have become urgent international problems.  

 

We hope that there will be unified actions to help solve at least some of these matters.  So let’s all sometimes pray to Chaac to intercede for us and a more positive global future.