Ancient Aztec, Mayan and Mexican glyphs and artwork make great designs for t-shirts. And apparently they are all the rage at the moment - the statcounter on our Art Attack store tells me so anyway.
I have design several t-shirts using the historic art in unique ways.
Shown here is the Hunab Ku glyph, textured in a mix of chrome and blue steel.
According to some early-colonial sources, Hunab Ku, meaning 'Sole God', was the main deity in the Tucatec Mayan panthem. No images existed of Hunab Ku since he was considered to be without visible form. The concept may have been invented to satisfy the Spanish monks. Hunab Ku is, in any case, closely related to the indigenous creator god, Itramna.
The "Hunab Ku" symbol was originally a rectangular symbol used by the Aztecs as a ritual cloak design, known as the Mantle of Lip Plugs (or, arguably, mantle of spider water). The symbol survives today as a rug design being sold in central Mexico, but was associated with the Milky Way and the god Hunab Ku by Arguelles, who changed the symbol to a circular motif. It has become associated with Mayanism.
Posts
