"The product of artistic efforts intends to convey messages, to elicit sensations, to arouse feelings, to kindle emotions, and to provoke profound thoughts. "
(Francisco Valdez, Amerindian Signs)
The creation of this fascinating vessel emerged from the collective need to outwardly express common beliefs and feelings. The aesthetics, rhythm, harmony, handling of shapes and volume are sensorial instruments this artist has used to reach the mind and soul of the viewer. As seen in this fascinating vessel, artistic beauty does not merely reflect the visible world; its strength and rhythm reside in the ideological content of the message conveyed. The zoomorphic turtles with their humanistic expressions and the anthropomorphic creatures with their long curving bodies are manifestations of this ancient civilization's philosophical concepts of the universe. All of the creatures' attention is focused towards the center of the long tubular part of the vessel, which may have contained precious contents at one time. This vessel is artistically beautiful because it is not a mere reflection of nature, but a production of the mind. In order to channel the cosmic energy towards the community, rites and ceremonies took place to venerate and placate the forces of the universe. We can assume that this vessel was essentially a symbolic language, full of visual, as well as audio (the tripod legs are rattles), signs and codes that evoked and courted the forces of the universe during ceremonies. Now, it magically summons our undivided attention and forces us to look within our own inner selves.