Allegory of Death (Alegoría a la Muerte)

Dark, raw, and hauntingly composed, Allegory of Death by Carlos C. confronts mortality through a surreal and ritualistic lens. Carved in bold linocut technique, the black-on-beige print features a horned skeletal creature flanked by kneeling human forms, their bodies twisted in anguish or reverence. Above them, a seated figure levitates in a meditative pose — half-god, half-beast — creating a visual narrative charged with myth and existential reflection. The woodgrain-style textures and stark linework give the image a visceral quality, inviting multiple interpretations: dominance and submission, worship and decay, transformation and transcendence. Carlos C.’s anatomical distortions echo both pre-Columbian deities and European memento mori, situating the work at a unique intersection of Indigenous and contemporary graphic traditions.