I spent the day working on another painting of my brother, this time as the Eromenos. This title is a play on words; in the classical tradition, the Eromenos was a young boy who was in love with an older man. In my painting, my brother plays the Eromenos, but it is with a god that he is in love; Eros, god of physical passion and sex (hence, both figures are in a sense the Eromenos). This painting also mixes my cultural heritage; in Aztec traditions, young men pierced their penises with a bone awl, bled on a piece of paper, and burned the bloody paper in a brazier. Through this penitential ritual, they called upon and could speak with the gods. Marcel has here completed this ritual; the brazier smokes in the background and paper strips lie at his feet, and the vision of Eros appears before him.
He is in a Mexican setting (or Californian!) with prickly pear in what might otherwise be a classical background. He wears the turquoise leggings and the golden fan of Yacatecuhtli strapped to his back. Yacatecuhtli is The God Who Wanders. He is the spiritual patron of those on journeys. Here, Marcelito wears his symbols for he is on a spiritual journey; the signs are a call to Yacatecuhtli to guide him on his path
This painting, unlike the tarot cards, was drawn from life over a period of a couple of days. Above, Marcel is sitting in the pose; the pose is pretty hard, so we held it for 10 minute intervals, with plenty of breaks.
A close up of the pose. You can check it out on my ebay store!
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