Eugenio D’Ors described the Baroque as “something multiple, diverse, enormous,” reflecting society’s rich multiplicity of expression. From Thai palaces and Indian Solkattu rhythms to Iranian mosques and Mayan sculptures, the Baroque reemerges cyclically as a creative force around the world—an impulse flourishing during times of transformation and cultural fusion. In the Hispanic Americas, this spirit of mestizaje—a blend of Indigenous and European influences—manifested most vividly in the 16th- to 18th-century art of the viceroyal period.

Inspired by this dynamic era, Projection 1: The Tree of Life explores the aesthetics of mestizo art, in which Indigenous artists wove their ancestral traditions into the European baroque and renaissance frameworks imposed by colonization. These anonymous Indigenous and mestizo artists produced works of extraordinary complexity and beauty that profoundly influenced both American and European art. Yet, their contributions remain largely unacknowledged, leaving a void in the modern understanding of Indigenous cultural and artistic history.

“The Baroque arises in times of transformation, mutation, and innovation,” Alejo Carpentier wrote, “flourishing at the height of a civilization, or when a new social order is on the verge of emerging.” This statement resonates deeply with the Colonial period in Mexico, when the merging of Indigenous and European artistic aesthetics created Hispanic America’s current cultural foundation (responsible for the plethora of surrealism, magical realism, and fused symbolisms). By revisiting these roots, Projection 1 seeks to rekindle a long-overdue dialogue about the mestizo identity’s place in contemporary culture and art.

The piece takes inspiration from the archetype of the "Tree of Life," a powerful and enduring symbol in Indigenous Mexican cosmovision. Representing the unity of all existence—from its deep roots to its far-reaching branches—the Tree of Life embodies the interconnectedness of life, the cosmos, and spirituality. For Indigenous cultures, it served as a bridge between worlds, tying together the earthly and the divine. Within the context of the piece, this symbol becomes a lens through which the composition explores the bridging and fusion of temporal and cultural perspectives: the linear, Western sense of time juxtaposed with the cyclical, ritualistic nature of Indigenous traditions.

Musically, the composition reflects this fusion. Its long, evolving melodic sentences, reminiscent of the intricate sentences found in 17th-century Spanish and Mexican baroque literature, unfold like sprawling branches in linear canon. Ornamentation builds upon ornamentation, cascading into layers of counterpoint and imitation, mirroring the density of baroque art. These linear structures intersect with moments of ritualistic cyclicism and repetition, with canons spiraling to create a dialogue between the Western and Indigenous conceptions of time.

Projection 1: The Tree of Life is the first piece in a series of pieces titled Projections & Time Sculptures, a cycle exploring semiotics in music, the topology of emotion, and humanity’s interface with reality. Through this work, I aim to celebrate the aesthetic and cultural contributions of mestizo and Indigenous art while inviting listeners to reflect on its enduring relevance in our contemporary world.