To come across the work of Mexico City-based visual artist, Luis Díaz Gordoa — known as VENA2 — is to come across a dynamic feast of metaphor, meditation and manifestation. In our latest artist profile, Kid-In explores art as a messenger for primordial symbolism and the sacred patterns that permeate every layer of the natural […]
To come across the work of Mexico City-based visual artist, Luis Díaz Gordoa — known as VENA2 — is to come across a dynamic feast of metaphor, meditation and manifestation. In our latest artist profile, Kid-In explores art as a messenger for primordial symbolism and the sacred patterns that permeate every layer of the natural world.
At just 27 years old, Gordoa emerged as one of the top graphic designers in Mexico City. In 2008, he held his first exhibition (“Redemption”) as VENA2. His subsequent career as a professional artist has led him and his admirers through a labyrinth of mediums and techniques: from architecture to murals, serigraphs to sculptures.
His ever-evolving artistry is characteristic of the creative potential that first stirred in him as a young child, only to be amplified through a family tragedy and then carried forth in honor of his relationship with his mother and with nature. Conceptually, his work can be seen as a diversified means of exploring unperceived corners of emotion, spirit and psyche.
His most recent work features the microscopic patterns of food, as well as the mythical symbolism of the deer (VENA2 is actually a playful coalescence with the Spanish word for deer, venados). For the last 8 years, he has been dedicated to a mixed-media series, “Florecer,” which incorporates a formula of flower therapy conceived by Gordoa’s mother, Maria Gordoa. Together, they have created more than 80 dynamic pieces across different mediums, including engraved mirrors, paintings, sculptures, and prints.
Notably, “Florecer” celebrates the healing properties of Mother Nature while also honoring the healing work of Gordoa’s own biological mother. This decidedly captures the essence of VENA2’s work, which, when viewed closely, comes into focus as an existential bridge between Earth and the cosmos.
The source of my inspiration has always been nature. My parents were in love with nature. Our holidays were always in mountains, waterfalls, or lakes. We never went to resorts or anything like that. My dad was a photographer and he loved to use nature as a subject. Since I was very young, my mother has been working with flowers as healing therapies for people.
Which is the inspiration for Florecer, right?
Yes. One day my mom had the idea of starting a tarot card set using flower therapy. She told me how the flowers can heal and how they each have their own meaning. I thought that if I incorporate the same flowers into art, I could travel through my imagination and come out illustrating the worlds I create. Those kinds of systems always been in my curiosity. The systems of emotions and of symbols.
And tarot is all about symbolism, as well, of course. So how does that relate to Florecer?
She plays with numbers and flower meanings, and I basically translate her flower formula. For example, the lily is connected to creativity, and so is the number 3. So I’ll place three lilies in a triangle as a mandala for creativity. It’s actually very figurative.
Florecer means to bloom. My mom talks about the significance of the moment when a flower’s petals open. That’s the whole concept that she developed. It’s not about only the flower therapy, it’s about capturing all the tools you have in your life that can help you blossom 
into your full potential.
So then I transfer her work to visual form, so that people can interact with the piece as a mandala, which works through our emotions and our subconscious.
What has it been like to work with your mother?
Working with my mother on this is a process of transferring the most beautiful form of love: unconditional love. This is how we honor our mother, which is the most beautiful form of honoring Mother Nature. On every level, the mother gives us life.
Your seem to be very close with your family, overall. How has your family environment affected your work?
I had a beautiful childhood. I am very honored by that. My parents built a beautiful life for me.
My mother had me really young, at age 19, and we’ve always had a strong bond. I actually lost a brother when I was 8. He drowned in a pool at just 5 years old. That incident was a catalyst for transformation for my whole family. My mother became very focused on discovering the meaning of life. She transformed in many ways and then started helping other people transform. It was her mission and purpose. This is also 
when she received a gift to channel and communicate with plants. For me, the tragedy of losing my brother meant a life of therapy and attempting to understand the meaning of life and love.
As adults, all of us siblings contribute to the family business, which is 
my mom’s healing center in Mexico City. We each have our own superpower. Mine is providing a visual for our mother’s healing practice.
We’ve been talking about art as a healing modality and a means of connecting with our subconscious. It seems like you’re really deliberate with that intention. Why is that?
We are holistic beings made for mind, body and soul. Art allows this to be presented in the 2nd Dimension, experienced in the 3rd Dimension, and then maybe even explored in the quantum field of the 
4th and 5th Dimensions. In that case it can become a tool for co-creation.
This is my everyday work. In the end, it’s a lot of layers. You can look at a mandala of flowers and you can tap into why it was created, where it can take you, and how it’s connected to your deepest forms of life. That’s what I want to express with my work, whether it’s through flowers or the universe or through the ancestral knowledge of the Mexicas. I love working with that knowledge, because our ancestors were connected to the Pachamama, which is Mother Nature, and to the great mystery, which is the Divine Father.
Fascinating. So what is an example of the Divine Father that is present in your art?
The universe, which is represented through the microcosm. I honor everything that you can see, but also there is so much that you can’t see. And these are the things that connect you to the quantum field. What we’re discovering through science is a reflection of how big, or how limited, that is.
So how have you been incorporating food into this theme, and where does your interest in food come from?
We are all connected to our anthropological roots. I chose food, because in Mexico it’s an important part 
of our culture. We really are what we eat. It connects us to nature.
I also really love working with the microcosm, which is everything that we cannot see, but is reflective of the macrocosm, the universe. The microcosmic world of energy and possibilities is the same on the macrocosm: a sphere of possibilities. For instance, the mother gives birth by merging with the father. It’s the union of opposites, which we also see on a universal level.
These concepts inspire the symbols that I use and the principles that I find deep within myself to discover my own divinity. I am honoring the Divine Father, which is the connection to the great mystery and infinite possibilities, as well as the Divine Mother. And mythology is all 
about the power of the elements seen in nature, including in the food we eat.
What’s your daily creative process like?
I observe the experiences of my own life that create the biggest changes within myself. All of my work is celebrating those learnings, which is also a celebration of beauty. I also look to science, which is discovering how matter works. And then I translate that to a metaphor. For instance, the way water moves is one of my favorite systems to work with.
Can you tell me more about VENA2?
I’ve been signing my work as VENA2 for 18 years now. It’s the name that I chose because I was called “venados” since I was born. My mother used to call me “venado,” which means deer, and even my football team called me “venadito” (little deer). The other meaning is “vena” as the Spanish word for vein, with the number 2 referring to the two veins in the human heart. The 2 is also in honor of duality. Of course, on another level, we’re all one.
Clever! So that’s why you started your project with the deer sculptures?
Yes, all of my life I’ve been connected to the power of the deer. I’ve always been interested in how the frequency of our names and labels affect our lives. In mythology, the antlers of a deer are considered to be antennas for communication with trees, and the trees are thought to hold ancient divine information. The deer are believed to be the messengers of that information. I’ve been interested in symbolism and mythology ever since I learned that. The deer is actually another way I honor the Divine Mother and the Divine Father.
With the recent election in Mexico top of mind, does any of your work venture into political meanings or activism?
I believe that collective transformation begins with the individual, not politicians. So I prefer to work on the level of society rather than government. With my work I hope to integrate the power of manifestation on a societal and community level. For instance, I’ve been working a lot with public spaces and public art.
I hear that! So what’s next?
I’d love to explore more around quantum physics. Ultimately, I want to discover new forms of beauty to connect humans to our divine nature. There’s a phrase I really like that describes my work. It says: “There’s no other redemption for human kind than to recognize our own divinity.” And I think that if we’re connected to our roots, to our veins, to our essence – then in the end we can evolve.
– Teresa Bigelow
To See more of Vena2 work: https://www.instagram.com/vena2/?hl=en
and Casa Florecer: http://florecer.com/en/