Tecolote
The Institute of Perception Productions
New Nagual man
Ancient Mexican Artist in Modern Times
Iván Zurita Arriaga was born in Mexico City in 1995. He graduated from the Colegio del Aire in Zapopan, Jalisco, with a Bachelor’s degree in Military Administration and as a fighter Pilot Officer. He began his artistic journey after leaving the Mexican Air Force and meeting a couple of shamans from California in TULA, Hidalgo. After the Northern shamans guided him to perceive new worlds, shifting his consciousness to a place that symbolized his symbolic death, he began a cycle of teachings, practices, and artistic creation, centered around one of the most ancient forms of knowledge from ancient Mexico.
| TITLE: “ETERNAL LOVE”
MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
| DIMENSIONS: 80X80 CM
| YEAR: 2024
ENTERING THE WORLD OF THE MYSTICAL ART
Was I perhaps recalling my essence alongside the shamans from the North? Had I been guided by spirit to be in the exact place where the finest and most excellent art had been created by the Toltecs thousands of years ago?
The Toltec artists paved the way for the Art of the Feathered Serpent, a knowledge that was passed down from lineage to lineage, mastery that led them to reveal unimaginable secrets of the Universe.
This granted them an interpretation of the physical and energetic realms, which led them to become Seers, They became creators of WORLDS, using the arts as a way to sustain consciousness and open windows to the UNKNOWN.
The first night tecolote spent at the house of the Northern shamans, everything was prepared. he knew this path had no turning back; “I traveled like a bird, the physical body vanished”. After entering into a new perception, the seers, guided by spirit, knew that their responsibility was to connect the next link in the Toltec Mystical Art lineage. The Northern seers left segments of Fabriano paper, which they covered with a layer of amber-colored paint, in the room where tecolote slept. During a period of 7 months living with the Northern shamans, he created Art works that symbolized the opening and entry into the deep world of the Toltec magic . Months of instruction in the art of SEEING, along with visits to power places in nature, resulted in the first windows to the art of the unknown.
SERIES: “ENTERING THE WORLD OF THE NAGUAL” | TITLE: “EL RITUAL”
MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS | DIMENSIONS: 100X30 CM | YEAR: 2022
SERIES: “BATALLAS DE PODER”
TITLE: EL RITUAL
MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
DIMENSIONS: 160X50 CM
YEAR: 2022
Following the call of the heart was the master key to a path of freedom. The spirit had placed in front of my existence a mission of life or death. Upon arriving in Tula for the first time in 2018, the spirit had prepared the meeting with the Toltec guardian, the teacher. Upon my return, after 3 years of leaving the army, the spirit led me to meet the Northern shamans who, in accordance with Toltec tradition, would become my benefactors. The master led me to the arts of the jaguar, while the benefactors guided me to the eagle knowledge .The apprentices have both a “teacher ” and a “benefactor.” The first teaches the techniques of the “tonal,” which relate to the physical world. The second, the benefactor, works with the apprentice in heightened states of consciousness. The benefactor “shows” the mysteries of the nagual world, (the energetic world). In this world, there are no “techniques”; only the experience itself exists.
SERIES: “TOLTECA CONTEMPORANEO”
TITLE: “CASA DEL NAHUAL”
MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
DIMENSIONS: 100X30 CM
YEAR: 2024
FROM SHAMAN TO DEFENDER OF THE AGRARIAN MOVEMENT.
After his time with the seers of the North, Tecolote guided by an inner calling, he abandoned the city and embarked on a self-taught journey, seeking wisdom through direct contact with the earth.
His path led him to the “Maguey Emissary”, a young pulque (Ancient Mexican beverage) producer from Tula Hidalgo. As their friendship deepened, Tecolote became captivated by the maguey plant, a living link between ancient Mexico knowledge and the present. He moved to a plateau near Tula’s archaeological zone, immersing himself in pulque production and land work journey.
Over time, his reverence for the maguey grew into a profound devotion. The plant revealed silent knowledge, a spiritual energy that reshaped his artistic vision and life’s purpose. Through this ancestral connection, Tecolote became not just an artist but a guardian of a cultural and agricultural legacy.
THE DAY THE LINEAGE WAS REVEALED
After months of deep exploration with the maguey, the spirit entrusted Tecolote with a new mission. His path led him to Don Crecencio Martínez, a master and guardian of ancient knowledge. Recognizing Tecolote’s unwavering devotion, Don Crecencio chose him as his successor, passing down 60 years of wisdom in the sacred craft of pulque, or Tlachique, as it was known in ancient Mexico. Week after week, Tecolote refined his technique under his mentor’s guidance, perfecting the art of pulque fermentation. The day finally came when Don Crecencio tasted his disciple’s creation—his face lit up. “This is how it was drunk in ancient Mexico,” he declared. With one final lesson, he left Tecolote with a powerful truth:
“Pulque and maguey are creativity and imagination.”
These words opened a door to a NEW world –a journey of artistry, tradition, and resistance.
| TITLE: “LINAJES Y GUARDIANES”
MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
| DIMENSIONS: 93X43 CM
| YEAR: 2023
AFTER FULLY ENTERING THE WORLD OF MAGUEY, THE ARTS STARTED WISPERING .
I had never painted magueys before. Just seeing them left me in awe—their complexity, their colors I rushed to paint it.
Over the next two years, tecolote created a series of ink drawings on tracing paper, immersing in the maguey’s universe.
Seeking a new horizon beyond Tula, tecolotes art work transformed as he encountered new battlegrounds. For three years, he moved between the world of maguey and the world of art. The paintings that now exist stand as evidence of light manifesting on Earth—a legacy gifted to us by our ancestors thousands of years ago. There is still a path to fight for freedom.
As from the day of birth, the battle continues, guided by the spirit. Following his heart, he was led to the House of the Feathered Serpent—Teotihuacan. Now, after two years navigating those lands, he persist in the battle of the maguey movement, shaping a new artistic revolution, preparing new doors of perception for the arrival of warriors and the awakening of the spectator.
TITLE: ENTRANDO AL MUNDO DEL NAHUAL | MATERIAL: ACRYLIC ON CANVAS
DIMENSIONS: 23X23 CM | YEAR: 2021
TECOLOTES ARTISTIC WORK IS CURRENTLY DISTINGUISHED BY SYMBOLISMS, VISIONS, DREAMS, AND RITUALS, DISCOVERING THE ANCIENT MEXICAN MASTERY OF THE CASTES OF SEERS SUCH AS THE TOLTECS, TEOTIHUACANS, MAYAS, AND MEXICAS. ¿RITUAL ART? THROUGH LANDSCAPES, MOUNTAINS, ORGANIC AND INORGANIC BEINGS, HE PROJECTS WINDOWS INTO THE UNKNOWN—INTO WHAT IS SEEN WITHOUT BEING SEEN. EACH PIECE IS SHAPED BY THE CYCLE OF TEACHINGS, BATTLES, OR DREAMING STATES IN WHICH THE ARTIST WAS IMMERSED. AS AN ARTIST AND FARMER, HE IS CURRENTLY DEDICATED TO CULTURAL AND SOCIAL PROJECTS IN DEFENSE OF THE LAND.
