Label Type
Cultural/Historical ContextLabel
The jaguar, a common icon in Robles’ work, refers to the Zapotecan belief that they are descended from the creature. The title Ollin refers to the glyph in the jaguar’s mouth, a symbol of movement in Zapotec and Aztec culture. In Aztec mythology, we currently occupy the fifth world; the Ollin represents its eventual destruction.
In Robles’ telling, he learned to draw the jaguar when René Castro saw him struggling and suggested he look at books; Robles insisted he could draw one from memory. This process of probing his internal visions led Robles to derive his own symbolic language. The rich color and texture in this print also reflect the spontaneous approach that Robles developed by watching Castro print.