This woman is an interpretation of the Mayan Goddess Ixchel. She is the goddess of child birth. She has always been shown to have a snake on her head, representing rebirth and death. Similar with other indigenous goddesses from the Americas the snakes hold an important role in relation to the earth, life, and death. This in my way is a reclaiming of our histories within the Americas. She is that rebirth of our unison that the "Americas" once had. She is Lady Liberty, she is Coatlicue, she is Pele, she is Ixchel, she is Tonatzin. Her head is adorned with different forms of plant life, representing peace, and the fight for life as many plants do when faced with extreme environments. The Americas are filled with these extreme environments, and we will not go any where, but fight together to live. Her tattoo is a play on the classic love graffiti/tattoos that countless of lovers have written & carved on surfaces since the start of time. We fight, argue, spill blood, but in the end we are together for forever. North + South "por vida", for life.
