Curated by Josh Galarza
![A felted wool sculpture of a coyote and a xoloitzcuintli surrounded by calendar iconography.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Caninos-Canijos_2021_Galarza-Edited-1.jpeg)
![A massive axolotl pinata hung in a white gallery.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_iiiDALE-iiiDALE-iiiDALE_2019-2020_Galarza-Edited-Final-Version-scaled.jpeg)
![A set of nine ceramic and concrete tiles featuring a repeated image of the coatl (serpent).](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Coatl_2021_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpeg)
![Artist Cesar Piedra stands in a parking lot, selling his ceramic pieces.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_El-Vendedor_2021_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpeg)
![A cement and ceramics relief sculpture featuring the gloves of Mickey Mouse, Mexica skulls, and a gold Virgin Mary necklace.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Run-Em_2021_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpeg)
![A concrete and ceramic sculpture of a Mexica tzompantli, a skull rack, with an obsidian encrusted soccer ball atop the altar.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_The-Beautiful-Game-Detail_2020-2021_Galarza-Edited-Final-Version-scaled.jpeg)
![A concrete and ceramic sculpture of a Mexica tzompantli, a skull rack, with an obsidian encrusted soccer ball atop the altar.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_The-Beautiful-Game_2020-2021_Galarza-Edited-Final-Version.jpeg)
![A felted image of the Mexica goddess Coatlicue represented as the Virgin Mary, surrounded by ceramic macuahuitl.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Coatlicue-Transfomed_2021_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpeg)
![A mixed media sculpture of a hoop referencing a game played by the Mexica.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Nuestros-Juegos-Antiguos_2022_Galarza-Edited.jpeg)
![Ceramic Modelo bottles fashioned like a Macuahuitl and Cross on felted mats atop a painted pedestal reminiscent of the one that the Mexica gods of life and death stand on.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_El-Ritual_2023_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpg)
![Ceramic Modelo bottles fashioned like a Macuahuitl and Cross on felted mats atop a painted pedestal reminiscent of the one that the Mexica gods of life and death stand on.](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_El-Ritual_Detail_2023_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpg)
![](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Piedra_Reciprocity_2022_Galarza-Edited-scaled.jpg)
![](https://blackbird.vcu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/full_width-story_divider_2x-1024x52.png)
Josh Galarza, lead art editor, is a second-year MFA student in fiction and creative nonfiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of The Great Cool Ranch Dorito in the Sky (Henry Holt and Company, 2024). His creative nonfiction has appeared in FOLIO and elsewhere. He holds a BFA in art and a BA in English from the University of Nevada, Reno, and is a multidisciplinary visual artist specializing in printmaking, book arts, and sculpture.