Blog Week 5 : Stencil of Hunab Ku

For my stencil, I decided to make the mold of the Yucatan Mayan symbol called Hunab Ku. The process of making the stencil was not to difficult. It required printing out a copy of the symbol preferably in black and white, but the symbol is usually drawn in black and white so that wasn’t an issue. The tricky part was trying to hold the paper onto the thicker paper (i.e. manila folder) while tracing out the sections that I wanted open for painting. Similarly, after this cutting it out, trying to hold the stencil in place over the section I wanted it was hard and the acrylic paint went a little over the edges. So, I used my X-acto knife to scratch of some of the edge and make more defined lines.
The Hunab Ku symbol tends to be a feature in the wheel calendar system. It is also known as the “Galactic Butterfly” giving reference to the cosmos. It is mainly defined as “the one god” or “the high god”, but the symbol represents the movement of life engery, the cycle of life on a larger scale, the order and balance of the cosmos, the god force or infinite power available in all life, and balance in all things, in general. To me, this is the Americas’ version of the  Ying Yang symbol. I believe in having a balanced life and it is a quality that I find important to have. So, by having this symbol on the cover of my project it reminds me to stay balanced every day.