Dismemberment and reintegration: Aztec themes in contemporary Mexican practice

In a depth process the unconscious presents images of destruction. In my analytic work with a female Mexican artist, the themes of destruction and creation alive in her psyche echo the motifs of the pre-Hispanic myth of Coyolxauhqui. I will illustrate the mythological amplifications of the patient's personal material with illustrations of her paintings. I will also discuss how this myth operates in a male patient, and between the masculine and feminine in Mexican culture. Similar images by the German artist Anselm Kiefer refer to the dismembering of the newly discovered lands and government violence against the youth of Mexico.