MAYA MONUMENTS ANABELLA MONZON IN RETROSPECT

 

Anabella  Monzon    Uxmal  

Email-­‐[email protected]/  P.  
O.  Box  1921  Fresno,  Ca.93718  

 

Sculpture  of  Anabella  Monzon  Wilson  

M   AYA   2  
MONUMENTS  

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I  thank  the  Creator  for  his  Light  of  life.  I  am  grateful  he  released  me  from  evil.  I  am  pleased  about  
the  creative  gift  of  my  Mayan  Monuments.  I  am  thankful,  for  my  family  and  community,  for  Art  Hop,  
for  Fresno  State  University,  for  my  Thesis  statement,  and  for  all  the  cats  I  get  to  feed.  
 
Maya  Monuments  could  not  exist  if  it  were  not  for  the  help  of  Faculty  and  Students  from  Fresno  
State  University  and  the  support  of  the  Graduate  Studios  Gallery.  Special  thanks  to  every  one  of  the  
following  individuals.  
 
President  Ph  D.,  M.P.P.  Joseph  I.  Castro  who  founded  Cupboard  to  feed  students,  
 
Dr.  Saul  Jimenez-­Sandoval  Provost  and  Vice  president  for  Academic  Affairs,  who  believed  in  me,  
before  I  built  the  big  statues.  I  am  inspired  by  our  Dean  Ph.  D.  Honora  Chapman,  who  wrote  
recommendations  about  me  and  supported  my  efforts  unendingly  Carol  Sera  schedule  numerous  
appointments  to  see  our  Dean.  
 
Professor  of  Graphic  Design;;  Chair,  Art  and  Design  Department  Martin  R  Valencia,  who  taught  me  
Visual  Literacy,  he  encouraged  and  helped  me.  Melisa,  for  all  her  help.  Rhonda  Velasquez,  who  put  
up  with  constant  calls  to  Conley  and  who  is  so  cheerful.  
 
I  acknowledge  Director,  Center  for  Creativity,  and  the  Arts  C.C.A.  Ph.D.  Cindy  Urrutia,  for  her  
recommendations.  
 
Faculty  of  Graduate  Master  Coordinator  Stephanie  Ryan,  who  assisted  me  always.  Dean  
Assistant  Liliana  Suzuki  for  always  seeing  me.  Graduate  Technician  Aide  Navarro,  for  clarifying  
issues.  Rodrigo  Gomez  from  Graduate  Research  for  his  notifications  and  clarifications  about  
Fellowships  and  Research  Grants.  Director  of  Fresno  Arts  Council  Lilia  Chavez,  who  was  very  
supportive  helping  me,  and  sending  invitations  to  her  lists.  
 
Members  of  the  Masters'  Committee:  
Artist  Professor  Edward  Gillum,  who  gave  me  the  freedom  to  express  and  build  sculpture,  plus  
taught  me  Foundry.  Artist  Professor  Joan  Sharma,  who  edited  my  texts  consciously  and  gave  me  
feedback.  Mayan  Art  Professor  and  Archeologist  Ph.  D.  Keith  Jordan  for  Art  History  courses,  
Seminars  on  Psychoanalysis,  and  so  much  more.  

M   AYA   3  
MONUMENTS  

 
Professor  Nick  Potter  is  a  fountain  of  strength  and  talent.  He  encouraged  me  to  publicize  the  
show.  I  am  impressed  by  Graduate  Studios  Gallery  Technician  Chris  Lopez,  excellent  at  curating  
exhibits.  He  designed  posters  and  all  the  text  in  the  show.  He  worked  so  hard,  I  am  forever  
indebted  to  him  for  being  such  a  great  guy.  Special  thanks  to  Photographer  Niclaus  Cook  for  his  
talent  as  Photographer.  I  thank  him  for  access  to  photos  of  Maya  Monuments  to  use  in  my  
Thesis.  Ed  Lund  was  a  magnificent  human  being  and  Performer  Artist  who  inspired  students  and  
was  an  influence    to  me.  
 
Modern  Art  and  Women  studies  Professor  Laura  Meyer  so  intuitively  supportive  who  taught  
A.P.A.  writing  and  the  Gaze  of  Rene  Cox.  Ceramist  Professor  Una  Mjurka  taught  me  to  build  
strongly  supported  clay  ceramics.  Instructor.  Artist  Instructor  Kriss  Kessey  recommended  Master  
studies  emphasis  sculpture  and  always  listened  to  me.  Studio.  Artist  Adam  Longatti  who  taught  
me  painting  Graduate  Department  Artist  Nader,  who  taught  me  so  much  about  Art  Forms,  and  
Structuralism,  his  theory  class  was  my  favorite.  
 
Safety  Coordinator  Susie  Mitchell,  she  fired  my  work.  It  was  her  that  suggested  to  try  other  
sculpture  techniques.  Gallery  Technician  Andrew  Orloski  for  firing  my  sculpture  and  guidance.  
Facility  Maintenance  Mechanic  Steve  Wanke  who  helped  light  the  kiln  outsideso  I  could  learn  to  
fire  my  pieces,  and  for  being  my  friend.  MFA  Painter  Instructor  Jamie  Boley,  who  prays  with  me  
and  encouraged  me.  

.
Leadership  and  Social  Justice  Programs  Coordinator  Sophie  Karas  for  knowledge.  Graduate  Writing  
Debra  Neufeld  and  Ray  for  their  assistance  in  writing  workshops.  Artist  Professor  Museum  
Techniques  112,  Yoga  Teacher,  Gallery  expert  Teresa  Diaz,  who  showed  me  so  much  about  
Museums  and  joy.  
 
Thanks  to  Susie  Rivera,  Kennel  bookstore  for  printing  thesis.  My  mechanic  Luis  and  his  wife  Angie,  
who  transferred  sculptures  out  of  Graduate  Studios.  Kevin  Sweeney  who  was  part  of  the  crew  who  
moved  the  work.  
 
Thanks  to  my  close  family.  MSW  Photographer  Ixchel  Martinez,  my  daughter,  who  is  a  Family  
Therapist  in  Los  Angeles,  she  drove  from  LA  to  film  and  Photograph  my  show.  Editor/Artist  Lino  
Martinez,  my  son,  current  assistance  in  edit  and  formatting  Thesis,  he  is  the  most  active  
inspiration  for  my  work.  He  photographed  Tikal  and  took  me  to  Guatemala.  Artist  Consultant  
Mahishi  Marroquin,  from  Uxmal  Productions,  for  her  constant  encouragement  and  help  to  

M   AYA   4  
MONUMENTS  

promote  Uxmal's  art  in  Guatemala.  Her  dad  Musician  Lynn  Wilson,  recording  Master,  who  taught  me  
guitar  and  inspired        
 
Gratitude  extended  to  my  brother  Architect  Ricardo  Palacios  Monzon,  who  built  with  me  as  a  
child,  who  builds  houses.  Thanks  to  Chaito,  Fide,  Chonita,  for  their  loving-­kindness.  Carlota  and  
Delfina,  Indian  nanas  narrators  of  stories.  Cesar  Pena  who  helped  me  keep  the  faith  since  high  
school  in  Canada.  Cousin,  Hugo  Rolando  Pena,  thanks  for  handmade  Huipil  I  kept b  eside  me  
when  I  built.  Alejandro  Monzon  who  keeps  alive  our  family  roots.  Virginia  Pena,  my  cousin,  who  I  
always  love.  
 
Jose  A.  Moreno  III  from  PBS  for  accomplished  production  of  Maya  Monuments  video.  News  Ch  
24  and  47  who  came  to  film  show.  Humanities  Communication  Specialist  Benjamin  Kirk,  who  
posted  Maya  Monuments  exhibit  on  Fresno  State  Arts  and  Humanities  Blog  Day  of  Giving,  Nov  
7,  2019    and  video.  Central  Valley  Talk  Mike  Briggs,  who  hosted  me  on  the  show  and  gave  me  
the  experience  to  talk  in  front  of  the  camera.  
 
Professor  Craig  Polanaski  Web  Graphic  Communication  teacher  from  Fresno  City  College,  who  
was  the  reason  I  strengthened  my  pieces,  he  taught  me  Web  graphic  Communication  
Productions  at  Fresno  City  College.  Dang  Wang,  photography  Instructor  at  Fresno  City  College,  
who  took  photos  of  my  ceramics  and  helped  me  understand  Dreamweaver.  To  Web  Wizard  Luna  
and  Rusty  Robins  who  are  Digital  Masters.  
 
Amelia  Olvera  who  cares  for  the  habitat  fauna,  a  great  humanitarian.  Pd.D.  D  Leadership  in  
Education  Dolores  Vezzoline,  who  worked  Fresno  State  Stations.  
Photographer  Film  Maker  Richard  Herrera  Director  Greater  Kansas  City  Arts  Council,  who  made  
me  a  Public  Work  Artist  and  is  my  Manager.  
 
 
Finally,  to  the  most  crucial  person  that  helped  me  Los  Angeles  Immigration  Judge  David  
Neumeister,  who  gives  me  faith  in  Justice.  

M   AYA   5  
MONUMENTS  

Maya Monuments Master Show
Anabella Monzon

Fresno State Department of Arts and Humanities

Anabella Monzon
Faculty of Graduates Research Grants and Fresno State

Humanities and Arts Department support

M   AYA   6  
MONUMENTS  

Project Report in Retrospect for Anabella Monzon Wilson
Department of Art and Design California State University

____________________
Project Committee Chair

_____________________
Project Committee Chair

_____________________
Project Committee Chair

__________________________________
M.A. in Art Graduate Program Coordinator

____________________________________
Dean Art and Humanities Department

____________________________________
Chairman Art and Humanities Department

M   AYA   7  
MONUMENTS  

ABSTRACT
Mayan Monuments Exhibition is about the Popol Vuh, the book of creation of the Maya and the
Underworld. The authors of the story are Mayan Quiche, natives of midwestern highlands of
Guatemala, my ancestral home.
The Show narrates the myth of the creation of the Maya, is about the four attempts to create
humanity by the gods. The monuments are characters in the story of the sacred codex manuscript
rescued by the church in Colonial times. The statues represent the view of the world by Mayan
religion, their symbols’ iconography. The Show exemplifies the social order and cosmography of
the Maya
Mayan Artwork deals with themes of duality in creation, space and time, life and death, darkness
and light, good and evil, the god of the sun, and the moon, plus the Universal macro and
microcosms. The significance in Maya Monuments derives from the Popol Vuh’s ancient
meaning. The purpose of gods’ creation of animals and humans was to create beings who can
praise.

Culture communicates values through symbols, without understanding meaning, culture
loses ideation of the relationships in the community.

My thesis in Retrospect adds content dealing with the subject of my work, but also the
meaning of symbolism. The confusion of symbols leads to chaotic celebrations. Ambivalent
meanings taught by Hybrid culture create symbols of double meaning which produces chaotic
societies prompt to cruelty, or erratic manifestation. A culture that teaches trust and a precise
sense of symbols can communicate truth’s meaning through art in ordained networks of society.

In retrospect, I am looking at the four experiences in my life that led me to learn to
develop the concept of the Four Directions of the Mayan Medicine Wheel of Four Cardinal
Directions, which teaches clear symbology concepts based on the unity of life with the Creator of
Nature.

M   AYA   8  
MONUMENTS  

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES
All pieces in the show are characters from the creation story Popol Vuh. The iconography
used to decorate the sculptures represents the view of the world of the Mayan religion. Their
world divides into three levels: an upper, middle, and underworld. The gods I made represent the
social order and cosmography of the Maya. Mayan Art deals with themes of duality in creation,
space and time, life and death, darkness and light, good and evil, the god of the sun, and the
moon, plus the Universal cosmos. In other cultures, these dualities have different names.

Figure  1  Monzon  A.  Mayan  Cardinal  Cross  Statues  view  from  the  East,  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.  

The meanings I explored I learned from art theory and my heritage. The significance in
Maya Monuments derives from Popol Vuh's1 ancient meaning. The purpose of gods’ creation of
animals and humans was to create beings who can praise. The Maya used the language of nature

1 Woodruff, J. M. (2011). Ma(R)King Popol Vuh. Romance Notes
trievedhttp://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=44811085&site=ehost-live

M   AYA   9  
MONUMENTS  

to communicate true meaning. In a Community, human beings are capable of caring for one
another’s well-being. Once I expressed it in a poem, “Where food banks are our churches, and
the bread of life is unsold.”

In the exhibit, I explain Mayan Cosmology through sculptures to inspire the viewers. The
subject matter is about the feather serpents in Mesoamerican culture: Quetzalcoatl, Gucumatz,
and the Plumed Serpent are names for the same god, the thunder in the sky, not a snake.

The tropical thunder is one line of light, but it has wings; myriad rays emanate from its body.

Figure  2  Monzon  A.  Cardinal  Cross  clay  statues  view  from  the  South.  Photo  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.  

These rays are called Relampagos (lightning bolts) in the tropical storms. Maya culture
worships the power of the thunder because it brings rain to the seeds to make them grow into
food for the people.2
The Mayas venerated the forces in nature because they are beyond human control. Their beliefs
are closer to nature and realization of Life’s truth than many other religions of dogmatic beliefs.

2  PARSONS, M., & COOK, G. (2004). Cosmogonies and Culture: Teaching Genesis and the Popol Vuh in an Interdisciplinary
Course at a Christian University. Christian Higher Education  

M   AYA   10  
MONUMENTS  

Thunder’s electricity comes from God’s hand and spreads enlightenment from the source of
Universal energy. Like clay coils, the flesh DNA, nerves, and veins of our bodies resemble
strings. I think we are the art pieces of the Creator’s hands, his flesh sculptures.

Each coil in any piece of my sculpture is a prayer. I ask the Lord of Light to let us create
peace, offering tokens of artwork on Earth. My sculpture’s objective is to make people aware
that the Light is conscious, and that Light alone can guide our path on Earth. The disorder is the
outcome of people turning against the Creator and try to manipulate energy and water for the
power of money. The beliefs of America’s autochthonous cultures worship the forces of nature
as the source of balance. One of their balance strategies is to spread shamanistic knowledge of
ancestral unity, as mediation for ethnic discourse. “art bonds humans since prehistory, in times of
peoples’ need for emotional bonding”3 (Hayden, 2004).

Figure  3  Monzon  A.  Cardinal  Cross  view  from  West,  Photo  Niclaus  Cook,  2019  

3  Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinail Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003
4. Garner, H., Bruce, M., & Stellern, J. (2011). The Goal Wheel: Adapting Navajo Philosophy and the Medicine Wheel to Work
With Adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Groupwork.

M   AYA   11  
MONUMENTS  

Yellow represents the north in the Native Medicine Wheel and Mayan Cardinal Cross.
The rainbow colors of the Native American Medicine Wheel are Red for Indian, Yellow for
Asiatic, Black for Negro, and White for Caucasians. I painted four murals regarding the four
colors of people and the four directions of the Medicine Wheel in Path Finder extra-curriculum
school in Seattle, through an Artist in Residency. Seattle City Arts Council funds sponsored the
project, and it changed my ideas about these concepts. There is a parallelism of paradigms
between the Native American wheel 4 and the Mayan Cardinal Cross. The Mayan Cardinal cross
depicts a spiritual outlook of the world in all four corners of the sky.5 4Mayan culture perceives
everything on the planet as "pervasively sentient" and “endowed with spirit” (Skeen, 2007).
Spirit knowledge comes from the North, where Yellow corn acquires a symbolic power.
Significance is given to yellow color by the Mayas: “Q’anal, “yellowness” (richness, abundance,
ripeness); however, it is used by the Quiches to refer to any kind of abundance or wealth (B.
Tedlock, 1975). It follows, then, spiritual knowledge is wealth.

5 Skeen, I. (2007). Look Close, See Far: A Cultural Portrait of the Maya. Library Journal. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=27372167&site=ehost-live
 

M   AYA   12  
MONUMENTS  

Figure  4  Monzon  A,  Mayan  Cardinal  Cross  Statues  view  from  the  North,  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.

To “know” is to perceive everything on the planet has a pervasive feeling. According to
Ruth Bunzel, corn refers to rebirth and regeneration: “Qanil (milpa, cornfield) regeneration of
the earth, of rebirth after death, a ceremony in the growth of corn. “Furthermore, each year, one
does this until one dies” (Bunzel, 1952).

Four colors of corn create human beings. They are red, yellow, white and black or purple.
These colors are found in Rainbow Jade, only in Guatemala.

My art name is Uxmal, and it means rebirth or regeneration. Qanil is the Women’s
Center, where my daughter lived for many years, as well.
I do not think these symbolic analogies in my life are coincidences; I believe there are symbolic
references that guide my path. But everyone gets symbols to guide their path. References come
from within, Commands of signification come from outside.

In essence, every culture imposes symbolic commands of signification, (Jackson, 2018)
“Commandment tells us to break down the major question into smaller questions, to not leave
any assumption unchecked, to be aware of our own biases so we can account for them.” We are
biased but cannot see our redundant preferences because of indoctrination.

One learns symbolic culture (e.g., Mayan Indians 5 think one has to be Mayan to have
inner vision). Native Mayan Quiche learn this idea. Every culture determines which symbols
they keep. These assertions we hold to be relevant, contending at all times, are called verified
theorems.

Consider “Semiotic analysis of icon and symbol, where icons denote a physical
resemblance to the signified object, and symbols have no resemblance between the signifier and
the signified (Potts, 1960) but the connection between them learned.” (Lyons, 1977).

A symbol does not have to look-alike what it represents. In conclusion, the meaning
given to a symbol or logo, is a cultural construct. Still, once the association happens, it becomes
a commanded cultural construct. Growing up around altars teaches household cultural constructs.
Culture is a “socially constructed constellation consisting of such things as practices,
competencies, ideas, schemas, symbols, values, norms, institutions, goals, constitutive rules,

5  Woodruff, J. M. (2011). Ma(R)King Popol Vuh. Romance Notes

trievedhttp://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=44811085&site=ehost-live

 

M   AYA   13  
MONUMENTS  

artifacts, and modifications of the physical environment” (Fiske,1915).“Environmental
influences of culture transmit with interactions with other people playing a significant role”
(Stuart-Fox, Brown, 1915).

Figure  6  Monzon  A.  Ixchel  Martinez  -­‐Luna  Symbols  Repetition,  2019

Distal influences of culture, on the other hand, are based on social narratives and broad cultural
views such as6 Itzamna statue in the exhibit resembles physically, Chay Abah (Sacred Stone). I
made a social narrative of him in a story I wrote about cultural views. I did a leather burning of
him, which brought me identity because my last name Peña,  means rock.

My sculptures finish resembles rock art. “The importance of rock art is that it educates a
group of people about their identity and social memory. People derive identity from shared
remembrance-from social memory-which, in turn, provides them with an image of their past and
a design for their future.” (Susan Alcock 2002) My sculpture imitates rock art figures in texture,
relief, and motif. I also seek to derive identity from social remembrance in the stories I tell. The

6 Kashyap, S., & Hussain, D. (2018). Cross-Cultural Challenges to the Construct “Posttraumatic Growth.” Journal of Loss &
Trauma, 23(1), 51–69. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1080/15325024.2017.1422234

M   AYA   14  
MONUMENTS  

statues in my Show visually tell the mythological stories of the Popol Vuh. Gallery Technician
Chris Lopez and I worked diligently for days, placing figures to create an appropriate
atmosphere. This dedication proved beneficial to describe storyline to television channels,
Fresno State Faculty, Students, and Art hop public who attended. An icon looks closer to what it
represents. The icon figure of an altar is holy.

Figure  7  Monzon  A,  Middle  World  View,  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook.  2019  

An altar reminds me of home; the representation of what is familiar, in surroundings,
makes one feel at home. Home is a cultural construct, as well. When I first arrived in Graduate
Studios, the first thing I created was an altar,7 a place to give thanks, ask for blessings, and

7 Woodruff, J. M. (2011). Ma(R)King Popol Vuh. Romance Notes
trievedhttp://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=44811085&site=ehost-live
4

M   AYA   15  
MONUMENTS  

develop good works., and to make me feel at home. I always have a sacred place in my studio;
dedicated to my creation characters. The visions visiting my dreams and art.

The middle entranceway, by the front door, is the central room. This middle room
represents the intermediate view of the Mayan world. Next space, Studio One (the one that has
windows) displays the main four Maya Monuments of the Underworld or Xibalba.

The pieces in the exhibit area are in the order suggested by relationship to the storyline. I
learned skills at Fresno State Leadership Institute. They helped me be able to do teamwork with
the crowd and put Maya Monuments Show presentation together. “The Cardinal Cross is formed

by the Four Directions, in a holistic re-interpretation through the lens of the teachings of the
Medicine Wheel; the Thunder Beings occupy the four cardinal points of the directions compass.”

8

Figure  9  Monzon  A  Through  the  Lens,  Digital  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  2019  

The Axis Mundo world of the Maya is above, and it is where the high abode gods of the
four directions manifest. Hunab Ku, the sole god of duality principles, he is in the center, above,

8 Low, D. (1995). Breath on the Mirror: Mythic Voices and Visions of the Living Maya. American Indian Quarterly.

M   AYA   16  
MONUMENTS  

where dancing lights and upside-down dancers hang from the pole to offer sacrifice. I made four
big sculptures to stand for the four main gods: Tohil, Itzamna, Chaahk, and Huracan. One of
them came into my dreams. Visions influence my goals. “Indigenous cultures consider dreams
encounter with the spiritual world, and they are a vital source of supernatural power.” 9(Bean,
1976). In California, Great Basin dreams are the central cause in the Universe. They are ideas
connections to the underworld. The same as Pueblos Quadrant in the states of Utah, Arizona,
Colorado, and New Mexico. Dreams are gates that interpret the ancestor’s messages, located in
petroglyphs caves. In Mesoamerica,

Mandalas on leather are god’s eyes, and they empower the wheel. In the beginning, to
me, there was no apparent difference between the Native American Circle and the Mayan
Cardinal Cross. The mandalas enable visions to connect both. In the middle Mayan World view.
Ordinary material life happens, aspects like merchants, warriors, artists, and farmers. They all
have a patron spirit priest that communicates needs to a higher power. In physical reality,
“ancient ethnic group the Maya-Quiche describes powerful nahuals, like jaguar” (Tedlock,

1973).

Figure  10  Monzon  A  Through  the  Lens,  Digital  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  2019  

9 Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinail Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.
 

M   AYA   17  
MONUMENTS  

Figure10  Monzon  A.  Through  the  Lens,  Digital  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  2019  

Physical Matter on earth are four elements, and they rule the four corners of heaven and earth.
Mayan higher world level is on Show: Tohil, Itzamna, Chaahk, and Huracan, my most prominent
pieces.
In the center dwells Hunab Ku, a vinyl decal represents creator gods, Tepeu and Gucumatz. The
Cardinal Cross matched the magnetic compass and is how we started to place display. The
middle world is a physical reality, and these gods guide human endeavor, work, life, religion,
and conflict. The art pieces are gods of daily life. The two left spaces in the gallery depict
Underworld or Xibalba10  

Human beings who worship images made by their own hands breed division and discontent.
They create antagonism in human thought throughout history. There are many unopen doors
between different dimensions. Our awareness manifest which doors open. Many aspects of life
are of phenomes unknown. The Mayan adept, sky travelers fly to other worlds,  

Figure  11  Monzon  A,  Mandalason  Leather,  Photo  by  Anabella    2019

through smoky trails of incantation by invoking chanting. Leather mandalas on are god’s eyes
that empowering the wheel. To me, in the beginning, there was no apparent difference between

M   AYA   18  
MONUMENTS  

the Native American Circle10 and the Mayan Cardinal Cross. The mandalas enable me to
envision the connect ion of both. A Mandala is a circle figure used for meditation as holy
representation of Universe. It is an object of ritual that represents an inner space, like a tunnel of
communication to other levels of dimensions, realities, or thoughts. Each loop in the braids,
hanging from them represent an ancestor generation. The center are grandfather’s beard, the side
grandmother braids

10  Garner, H., Bruce, M., & Stellern, J. (2011). The Goal Wheel: Adapting Navajo Philosophy and the Medicine Wheel to Work
with Adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Group Work.

M   AYA   19  
MONUMENTS  

\

Figure  11a,  Monzon  A.Cizin  God,  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  ,  2019   Figure  11b,  Monzon  A.  Jaguar,  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  ,  2019    

M   AYA   20  
MONUMENTS  

   

Figure  11c,  Monzon  A.  Fuente,  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  ,  2019   Figure  11d,  Monzon  A.  Camazots  Bat  God,  Photo  Niclaus  

Cook  ,  2019    

M   AYA   21  
MONUMENTS  

.

M   AYA   22  
MONUMENTS  

Figure  11,  Monzon  A,  HURACAN,  EARTH.  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.    

M   AYA   23  
MONUMENTS  

M   AYA   24  
MONUMENTS  

Figure  12,  Monzon  A,  CHAAHK,  WATER.  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.  

M   AYA   25  
MONUMENTS  

M   AYA   26  
MONUMENTS  

Figure  13,  ITZAMNA,  FIRE.  Monzon  A.  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019.  

M   AYA   27  
MONUMENTS  

M   AYA   28  
MONUMENTS  

Figure  14,  Monzon  A.  TOHIL,  AIR.  Photo  by  Niclaus  Cook,  2019

In the middle Mayan World is where ordinary material life happens, aspects like
merchants, warriors, artists, and farmers. In current physical reality, “ancient ethnic groups, the
Maya-Quiche describe powerful nahuals, like the Jaguar Lord of the Underworld. Mayas assign

names of deities to animals, nature spirits, and plants. Some gods represent phases or

Figure  15  Monzon  A.  Balsams  is  session.  Photo  Monzon,  2019

occupations in life: for example, weaving, old age, medicine, fertility, and the arts. The middle
world level is between the higher and lower world; mediation is represented in my show by
proximity orientation. Behind Itzamna sits a statue fired in pieces, Mayan blue Hosaneck, which

M   AYA   29  
MONUMENTS  

is one of the four mediators between the higher and the middle world. He sits on the East wall of
the main gallery room.11

Itzamna is in the East; He is Lord of the Underworld, darkness and night. In their center is the
Heart of Sky.  “Corazon del Cielo, llevame a mi en tu vuelo. Que los malos no me voten al suelo.
Que La Luz me traiga Consuelo” 12 Heart of Sky and Heart of Earth brought forth the first four

men, who guided weaving, medicine, fertility, old age, and the arts. The middle world level is
between the higher and lower world. Inbetween levels are the mediator statues. Behind Itzamna
sits a statue fired in pieces, Mayan blue Hosaneck, which is one of the four mediators between
the higher and middle world. He sits on the East wall of the main gallery room.13 The only pre-
Colombian text translated from the original Kiche language is, Rabinal Achi which means ‘the
invisible people’ they have vegetable blood. Oxford University Press in War and Sacrifice 14

11 Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice life. e. Multicultural Review,

http://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh

12 https://www.facebook.com/AnabellaPenaMonzon/?__tn__=kC-

R&eid=ARC0XU5qTCAXyqlHoH2fn_7dX8YnsqZlBxiWYECaylqfkd9VIUJXIBY8sqct7yaP4KfloO_itdJ5hSPv&hc_ref=ARRTBSF8KoW8Xb
oB8fh9mkuxOsNx6ER1GWgxdn2DBDZp_P5YmMpu6qZvwHI5IzVD4Ig

 
13  Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinail Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. New York: Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.  
14 Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinail Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice.

M   AYA   30  
MONUMENTS  

tells the story of a Quiché warrior who fights against natives of Rabinal. Says, "Cawek of the

Forest  

Figures  16,  Monzon  A  Mandala  Krishanda.  Photo  Monzon  2012.

M   AYA   31  
MONUMENTS  

Figures  17  and  17a,  Monzon  A  Clay  Ceramic  High  Fire.  Photo  Dang  Wan,  2016

People has been captured by Man of Rabinal, who serves a ruler named Lord Five
Thunder."(Tedlock, 2003).15

The traditions, history and beliefs of the Mayan people are contained in the Popol Vuh
sacred book of Mesoamerican’s Myth.

It is s also an incredible book of poetry and a great piece of
literature, a source of ancient Mayan culture, beliefs, and traditions of history.
One of the essential pieces of Mesoamerican history is the Popol Vuh Codex because of many
reasons; one of them expressed nicely by Sulton. He uses the word Toto (entirity) or in its
totality, “radiant splenddor of the Mayan Lords celebrated as one of the most important pieces

15  Tedlock, Dennis. Rabinail Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.    
 
 
 

M   AYA   32  
MONUMENTS  

of Mesoamerican composition, Because it is the the only Codex which contains the story of
Mayan Human Creationor Genisis, is called the Mayan Bible.

.    

Figure 18 Huic. Photo Dang Wang, 2016 Figure 19 Jarro. Photo Dang Wang, 2016
 

  MAYA   33  
MONUMENTS  

Figure 18 Huic. Photo Dang Wang, 2016 Figure 19 Jarro. Photo Dang Wang, 2016  
 
 

The meaning of the word Kiche (Quiche in Spanish) is “many trees,” and it is a city-state that
flourished in the Postclassic Mayan Period of history, 900 AD, to the conquest of the Americas.

The Rabinal Achi is a theatrical play with a dance performed annually near Quiche, for
more than five centuries.14

Ancient spirit animals and warriors’ oppressors are used in the dance wearing
masks to represent the battle between the Lords of Quiche and Rabinal enemies. The
performers dance this mythical story in the public plaza in the center of the town. It
delights kids everywhere is presented. In the North West area of the United States, the
four corners of the wheel represent animal protectors. They are not the same as in North
East United States, Southwest, or the Southeast United States.

 

15 e Sutton, R. (2000). Popol Vuh. Horn Book Magazine, 76(1), 89–90. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ehh&AN=2667747&site=ehost-live

Figure  19a  ,  Monzon  A.  Mayan  Blue.  Photo  Niclaus   Figure  19b    Monzon  A.  Yuum  Caax.  Photo  Niclaus  Cook  2019.  

Cook  2019.  

The period of history for this play is 900 AD, to the conquest of the Americas. The Rabinal Achi
is a theatrical play with a dance performed annually near Quiche, for more than five centuries.16

Ancient spirit animals and oppressors are used in the dance to represent the battle
between the Lords of Quiche and Rabinal protectors.

Usually, the spirit animals of each surrounding region are the ones represented in the
medicine wheel. Each tribe has its own wheel.17

16 Rabinal Achi: A Mayan Drama of War and Sacrifice.
MulticulturalReview://search.ebscohost.com.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/login. h  
17 Garner, H., Bruce, M., & Stellern, J. (2011). The Goal Wheel: Adapting Navajo Philosophy and the Medicine Wheel to Work

with Adolescents. Journal for Specialists in Group Work,
https://doiorg.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1080/01933922.2010.537735
 

MAYA  MONUMENTS     35  
 

In Northwest Seattle, the four spirit powers in the cardinal directions are White Buffalo in
North, Eagle in East, Turtle in South, and Bear in West. The medicine wheel is not the same for

all tribes or regions. In Northwest Seattle, the four spirit powers in the cardinal directions are

White Buffalo in North, Eagle in East, Turtle in South, and Bear in West. The elephant is a spirit

animal of Africa, and there are no lions in tropical American jungles, only leopards and jaguars.

Figure  20  Monzon  a,  Wheel  of  Medicine  of  Mayan  Monuments.  Digital  Monzon,  2018

MAYA  MONUMENTS     36  
 

Figure 19a Monzon A. My petroglyphs in cave acrylic. Photo Monzon 2012

Therefore, Native American medicine wheels do not have elephants or Lions. They are different
according to location. Often, the spirit animals of each region or the ones in the surrounding area,
local environment, are on the regional wheel.

Number four is the same number used by the Cardinal Cross Medicine Wheel of the
Maya.18 Four is a unique number of holy representations. The Native American wheel has six

18 Rountree, J., & Smith, A. (2016). Strength-Based Well-Being Indicators for Indigenous Children and Families: A Literature
Review of Indigenous Communities’ Identified Well-Being Indicators. American Indian & Alaska Native Mental Health
Research: The Journal of the National Center, https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.5820/aian.2303.2016.
 
 

MAYA  MONUMENTS     37  
 

directions; the last two are above and below. But Native American, I also mean the Mayas,
because they are also natives of the American continent. America does not mean, United States.

A typical example of how a word might become a symbol for something else, due to the use of

the name (America with a country, not a Continent), in association with a different idea. The four

quadrants making up the wheel or circle represent four sets of elements that impact the well-
being, of the spiritual emotional being. North rules Wisdon, East rules Intuition, South rules

Matter of Factness and West rules courage.

Figure  22  Monzon  A.  Davis  Native  American  Wheel.  Photo  Martinez  2018  

In Native American Wheel history, “these quadrants are context, family, culture, community,
and environment” (Friesen, 2014).

MAYA  MONUMENTS     38  
 

INFLUENCES
Contemporary ideas influence my thinking. Ceramic teacher Una Mjurka told me once if
I wanted to pursue a Master’s in arts, I should think of Contemporary art. I tried a different style,
less symmetrical; the piece I made was Xochelle, image 17. She is Mother Earth screaming after
disaster happens.
Time and place are themes of the essence for Mayan Creation. Mayas are the Children of
time because they depict billions of spans of years in their chronology, like extra-terrestrial
measures of time in count of mathematical astronomy. Could it be that is why they have so much
knowledge? Because they have compiled it for a very long time? Some people think so.

Lacanian theory influenced me the most because of the concept of the lost object. I felt a
gap in my work, an empty feeling in the middle of my plexus that did not fill in time.

Nadaner taught Structuralism in Class Art Forms 101, which caused me to start thinking
about aesthetic terms conceived through time. Like the concept of sublime, how art changes in
epochs. In Women’s class, Laura Meyer made one consider the Gaze, how gender is seen
differently through the centuries, and Elizabeth Swearing taught about hegemonic practices in
women studies. She is the reason I wanted to get a Ph.D. I loved how she talked, “Society forces
us to wear masks to achieve normalization.” I made a connection between myth, folklore, social
culture, and gender. Slowly I began to understand how mass media controls the concepts of
identity through the power of the spectacle, even today. Role models to follow are established
through icons, like Marelyn Monroe, Barbie, Disney Characters. Cindy Sherman points this out
in her Contemporary Women Roles Photography.

Figure  23,  Monzon  A  Clay  Ceramic  Studio  2,  2016.  Photo  Lino  Martinez.

To be considered Normal, everyone tries to be in a standard group. No one wants to be
called by the term "other," the one outside, who does not belong. That one does not get services

MAYA  MONUMENTS     39  
 

from the system. The establishment of dominance normalizes behavior through signs that
promote rules.19

Propaganda brainwashes people’s minds. I think if ethic races understood the context of

each other’s symbols, then the trust would develop, and confusion will disappear.

Artists intend to create art shows, where art influences society through significant

concepts. To promotes our icons and symbols of communication from inside.

I also want to normalize others through creativity. Except, what artists do is not called

normalization, it is called inspiration. Artists want to teach and share, not normalize.

My art’s impulse is my passion for equality; everyone’ is beautiful without the mask of

alienation. I want to share with people normalization happens and is not reasonable. Women do

not have to look like Barbie Dolls, and Mickey does not have to spank Mimi. Sounds funny, but

we do not have to learn Sanskrit, Chinese, Arabic, and Korean language symbols. We do not

have to learn alien symbols of communication.

I mean, to want to know someone else’s culture is a start. It creates empathy and

openness in the heart. The first skill needed to establish communication is to hear what others are

saying(Communication 101, Mr. Greeny, 2010).

Language and memory keep all these cognitive processes of culture archived as symbols,
that take form in our creativity to bring positive, genuine change.

I promote symbology understanding as an original method of communication. We do not
have to learn Sanskrit, Chinese, Arabic, and Korean language symbols.

I mean, to want to know someone else’s symbols is enough, it creates empathy and
openness in the heart. Learning language and memory keep all these cognitive processes of
culture archived as symbols.20 Jay McClelland's work has spanned the range of cognitive
processes.

19 McClelland Rumelhart issue. (2014). Cognitive Science, https:// doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1111/cogs.12155 Issue
Information.
20 McClelland Rumelhart issue. (2014). Cognitive Science. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1111/cogs.12155 Issue
Information. (2014). Cognitive Science, 38(6), i–iii. https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1111/cogs.12083 Introduction
to the

MAYA  MONUMENTS     40  
 

 
Figure  23a,  Monzon  A  my  Studio  no  2,  2016.  Photo  Lino  Martinez  

Figure  23a  Monzon  A  Xochelle.  Photo  Dang  Wang  2017   Figure  23b  Monzon  A  Xochelle,  back.  Photo  Dang  Wang  2017  

MAYA  MONUMENTS     41  
 

Figure  24,  Monzon  A  Clay  Ceramic  Elephant-­‐Kukulcanon  back,  High  Fire.  Photo  Niclaus  Cook,  2016.  

All three levels of Mayan World are involved in the Ball game; it is a game of life and death,
goodness versus evil, a set of war and sacrifice. They play when they go to war, and go to war,
when at play, same game as sports today.
Art activity gathers community, establishing dialogue and compromise. Collaboration is
practiced by rites, like Art hop or rites of passage celebrations creating art spectacles of
performing arts searching to enlarge self-concepts of identity. Common goals take refuge from
separate self-identity by absorbing the identification status of a larger group.
The Light from above pierces down, moving through the three levels of the Mayan World.
Dispensation of life-giving power emerges, or come forth in Creation, “let there be Light.” (KJV,
Genesis 1:3). Tohil carries the sun in the day across the sky. At night he hides it in the
Underworld and emerges with sunrise. The subliminal message is Tohil, the sun god hides at
night to dispels the darkness, and in the morning, darkness embraces the Light as the sun.

MAYA  MONUMENTS     42  
 

Figure  24a  Keith  Jordan,  Stone  Trees  Transplanted,  2019  

Keith Jordan, Stone Trees Transplanted, 2019 Vivian Shaffle Drawing after Elizabeth
Wagner's Maya Creation Myths and Cosmography, 2000, in Maya: Divine Kings of the Rain
Forest.
Keith Jordan taught me many Art Classes of North, South, East, and West Mesoamerican art.

I learned as well as African Art, and seminars on Psychoanalysis, he collaborated in
deciphering the meaning of my deities in clay ceramics as Mayan Art. He is a National
Archeologist Lecturer who writes books and travels to Mayan ruins to do research.

We are fortunate to have him at Fresno State University as a Professor. Mayan ruins to do
research. We are lucky to have him at Fresno State University as a Professor.

He came after my Final Show and explained in a video farther signification of my pieces.
Thanks to him, this Master Art Project is corroborated by academia, and rooted in Mayan
symbolism. Like Chairman of the Art Department, Professor Martin Valencia suggested to me,

MAYA  MONUMENTS     43  
 
“these statues

Figure  24b  Monzon  A.  Middle  Mayan  World.  Photo  Niclaus  Cook,  2019                                                                    Figure  24c  below  Signs  analogy,  2019  

need space.” Gallery Technician Chris Lopez contributed the quality of his artistic expertise by
placing pieces document Mayan Monuments Show creating space. He brought a Professional
Photographer Niclaus Cook to document the Show. It proved to be a great idea. I am glad and
grateful he did because the pictures are very good at interpreting the panorama feeling of the
exhibition’s spaciousness. An old symbol becomes a new symbol by unconscious insight

MAYA  MONUMENTS     44  
 

Figure  24d  Monzon  A.  Physical  World.  Photo  Niclaus  Cook,  2019  
Figure  25  Monzon  A.  Hun  Hunaphu.  Photo  Monzon  2019                                    Figure  25  a  Monzon  A.  Hunaphudetail.Photo  Monzon  2019  

MAYA  MONUMENTS     45  
 

25b  Middle  Dual  concepts  representation.  Photos  Monzon,  2019  

Their proximity relationship signaled their compelling myth, narrating a story, touching
people as they passed near because they give out the healing force. This kind of power is called
Totem in Native cultures. Totem poles are symbols of power, and they are plentiful in Mayan
monuments. Wood poles sustain all my pieces inside.

The Totem is an unseen force, measured by the power of belief in the observer. Robert
Alun Jones concludes, alongside Lévi-Strauss and many other contemporary authors, that “the
secret of the totem” was that there was no secret. “Totem is primarily a creation for the travelers
who claimed they had observed it” (Alun, Strauss, 2005.)

In other words, a person has to be receptive to its power to feel it. Acceptance of the
strengths in our differences comes through education. In Synectics, a concept method of analogy
that can be conscious or unconscious(Valencia. 20014) which is

MAYA  MONUMENTS     46  
 

Figure  26  Monzon  A.  Hunab  Ku,  The  one  sole  god,  vinyl  decal  in  center  cardinal  cross.  Decal    Lopez,  2019
 

a symbolic association of an object to ideas (concepts used in the advertisement.) It can
be an influential unconscious association of a symbol or form to a subject. A bar of soap
represents cleanliness, a bruised eye domestic violence, a heart represents love, now in the
internet symbols of emoticons represent an emotion. When many symbols come together to
describe an object of art, like a monument, they are symbolic of the culture itself. In other words,
they profess the values of cultural, social symbols.

Does each person make meanings of images? The answer is yes. Like for
example, we see a beach ball, and we become happy because we associate the ball image with a
good time at the beach. Another person might remember a fight at the beach. So, memory plays a
role in the interpretation of forms, as well.

I was born and educated in the country of eternal spring, a world full of color,
dialects, and folklore. The two phones in the image are similar, but they connect to different
contact lists. Like them, I recall two distinct lineages. The Spanish blood calls one connection,
the Indian blood dials another, but they are both my screen signifiers! One phone is my
subjective view to my inner world, the other one my objective connection view to outer world, or
to social context.

MAYA  MONUMENTS     47  
 

You experience different drives because we inherit genes of varying ethnicity. We have

different Totems. Nevertheless, Totem power is selective. We can shut it off. We are all

metaphors (word applied to an object to which it is not applicable) of possible meaning. “The

author’s interest, like creative activity, culminates in analyses of metaphor and play and their
roles in the creative process.” 21. A metaphor applies a description to an object which is not

suitable. Like “that symbol’s power ignites me like a flame” is a phony saying, not real.

The Hunab Ku vinyl decal is in the Center of the four statues. Everyone wanted to stand

on top of it. It occupied Sacred Space, the most sacred location. It is a surprising fact; I did not

want to step on it, is the Center of the wheel, enlightenment Space. Most people unfamiliar with

the concept wanted to step on the sign. I thought it was a message to me, to respect everyone’s

different understanding. I learned to consider mixed ways of thinking lead to different actions.

To create interracial understanding and communication, we cannot confuse the meaning

of a sign. When we form an opinion of someone else’s symbols, we need to ask the person about

the purpose of the sign. It is essential to teach people to read the symbols of different cultures, to

understand simple comparisons that are poetic metaphors and not based on fact. Social Media is

terrific to do that, and it can solve conflicts between people in the world.22

We need to be receptive to one another because people from different

backgrounds make different associations to the same symbols. Certain symbols might evoke

great pain. They become icons of mass oppression, meaning perhaps, segregation to thousands of

people. If we are sensitive to each other’s diacritic marks, we stay receptive. We will remember

the images that constitute people’s painful memories. Then we might become empowered in

communication to understand one another, to strengthen our bonds and depict it through art.

Another consideration is that memory archives images better than words. I always

remember what I learn, because I think in pictures rather than words. That is the way I can

remember complex terminology; for example, parallelism is two lines; a paradigm is a triangle. I

can explain sophisticated concepts to children or illiterate persons because I explain thoughts by

associating concepts to their chosen images. Anyone can readily comprehend everything.

Learning and memory are essential to generate in the community a consensus of agreement.

21Gordon, W. J. J. (1961). Synectics: The development of creative capacity. Harper.
22 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hunab_Ku

MAYA  MONUMENTS     48  
 

Figure  27a,  Monzon  A  Elefante.  Photo  Dang  Wang,  2019.   Figure  27b,  Monzon  A  Zelan.  Photo  Dang  Wang,  2019.  

The symbol that helped humanity survive is the Cross of the four directions. Maya
Monuments’ Sculptures Art Show can share unity because the Cardinal Cross of the sky
directions is its theme. In old times it provided a compass of sun shadows and planting seasons.
This Cross is the oldest cross humans worshipped, and it unites us in a common core of love. The
creators wanted to be honored by creative human beings that can worship and be grateful. The
cardinal cross depicts Tohil, Itzamna, Chaahk, and Huracan gods of heaven. Thunder is lighting
feathered serpent in tropical storms. The plumes serpent is Thunder that brings rain to feed seed,
and on it depends on the survival of the people. The artworks here consist of many coils; each
coil represents a thunder. The plumes serpent bring life to earth from above.

In Popol Vuh Mayan gods describe the four attempts to create humanity. In the first
attempt, they created animals, and then clay was used to create people, afterward was wood and
then corn. The Gods yearn for love from their creations.

They wanted human beings that could worship and love. The creators wanted to be
praised by creating a world that can be thankful. They wanted human beings to take care of the

MAYA  MONUMENTS     49  
 

creation and not be destructive, like the men of wood were. My statues here consist of many

coils; each coil represents a thunder in the sky or guidance light from Creator. They are done by

my hands while I praise, like is typical of Mayan art, it has meaning of Sacred worship, is an act

of service, work of the soul. That is why Mayan Artists become Dreamers, Shamans, Priests and

Scribes-interpreters of reality

It’s hard to learn a second language to communicate complex lexical meaning. However,

“Unpack problems to expose assumptions, catch mistakes, and correct biases.” 23

“In its essence, this commandment tells us to break down the major question into smaller

questions, to not leave any assumption unchecked, to be aware of our own biases so we can
account for them. Specifically, the authors advocate for “Fermi-­‐‑sizing,” based on the work of the

Figure  28a  Monzon  A.  symbolic  bottom.    Monzon  Photo   Figure  28b  Monzon  A.  symbolic  top,  Monzon  Photo  2017  

2017  

physicist Enrico Fermi.” 24 He taught his students to break questions down into smaller,
manageable components.” It is the same when we try to understand a high wall of symbols. If we

23 Nelson, R. (2011). Vigilance, expectancy, and noise: Attention in second language lexical learning and memory. Second
Language Research, https://doi-org.hmlproxy.lib.csufresno.edu/10.1177/0267658310385757

24 Oostendorp, H. van, & Goldman, S. R. (1999). The Construction of Mental Representations During Reading. Mahwah, N.J.:
Psychology Press