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Received — 29 April 2026 People Art Movies
  • ✇Colossal
  • Linocuts by Eduardo Robledo Celebrate Mexican Heritage and Community Kate Mothes
    In the richly detailed linocuts of Eduardo Robledo, festive ceremonies, spiritual motifs, and dream-like interactions unfurl. The Mexico City-based artist was born and raised in the southern borough of Xochimilco, which is famous for its canals—vestiges of a huge Aztec water transport system still used today for bringing goods into the city. This area and its time-honored customs provide a bounty of inspiration for Robledo. Community and celebration are at the heart of his work, as creatur
     

Linocuts by Eduardo Robledo Celebrate Mexican Heritage and Community

29 April 2026 at 17:02
Linocuts by Eduardo Robledo Celebrate Mexican Heritage and Community

In the richly detailed linocuts of Eduardo Robledo, festive ceremonies, spiritual motifs, and dream-like interactions unfurl. The Mexico City-based artist was born and raised in the southern borough of Xochimilco, which is famous for its canals—vestiges of a huge Aztec water transport system still used today for bringing goods into the city. This area and its time-honored customs provide a bounty of inspiration for Robledo.

Community and celebration are at the heart of his work, as creatures and figures converge in enigmatic, sometimes ritualistic choreographies. Traditional motifs like skulls and skeletons, which represent remembrance, joy, and an acceptance of the cycle of life and death, interact with denizens of the region like armadillos, birds, reptiles, and more.

a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of a peacock and an armadillo on either side of an upside-down rose
“Adiós” (2021), three-color linocut, 15 x 22 inches

Social activism has also played a strong role in Robledo’s practice, tapping into the power of printmaking to spread messages about causes he cares deeply about. “Printmaking is democratic; it’s more supportive,” he shares in a profile. “There is a very strong graphic arts tradition in social movements.”

Robledo’s compositions are playful yet mysterious, universal and also arcane. Winged hearts, known as Sagrado Corazón, or the Sacred Heart, symbolize love, healing, and spiritual devotion. Armadillos represent protection and abundance, and numerous other foods, plants, and nods to culture—such as Xochimilco’s colorful canal boats known as trajineras—are venerated in scenes of dancing or totem-like configurations.

Robled’s prints can be found at Hecho a Mano in Santa Fe, and the artist is also a co-founder of Lugar de Huida in Mexico City, a gallery highlighting Mexican printmakers. See more on the artist’s Instagram.

a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of an armadillo or reptile-like creature with a huge cornucopia of flowers and other motifs on its back
“Arbol de la Vida” (2025), linocut, 30 x 22 inches
a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of dancing skeletons, birds, and other creatures
“Carnaval” (2023), linocut, 15 x 22 inches
a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of two skeletons inside of a larger motif of a skull-headed figure, holding a hybrid bird-tree
“El Pacto” (2024), linocut, 15 x 11 inches
a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of an armadillo amid a number of red hearts with winds
“Soltar” (2024), three-color linocut, 22 x 15 inches
a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of a figure perched atop a group of compartments with snakes and other motifs
“Hombres de Conocimiento” (2020), linocut, 44 x 30 inches
a linocut print by Eduardo Robleno of a deer standing over purple agave plants, in front of an orange sun, looking at an anatomical heart
“El Camino” (2026), serigraph, 15 x 11 inches

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Linocuts by Eduardo Robledo Celebrate Mexican Heritage and Community appeared first on Colossal.

  • ✇Colossal
  • Spell Your Name with NASA’s Earthly Alphabet of Aerial Images Kate Mothes
    From rivers and oxbow lakes to crop-field patchworks and mineral sediments, Landsat has seen it all. A program of NASA and USGS, the satellite initiative has documented the Earth’s surface since 1972, making it the longest continuous record of our planet’s ever-evolving landscapes. And to mark Earth Day 2026, the organizations launched a playful way to interact with some of their findings collected over the past five-and-a-half decades—a name generator. Using the tool is simple: type in yo
     

Spell Your Name with NASA’s Earthly Alphabet of Aerial Images

29 April 2026 at 12:44
Spell Your Name with NASA’s Earthly Alphabet of Aerial Images

From rivers and oxbow lakes to crop-field patchworks and mineral sediments, Landsat has seen it all. A program of NASA and USGS, the satellite initiative has documented the Earth’s surface since 1972, making it the longest continuous record of our planet’s ever-evolving landscapes. And to mark Earth Day 2026, the organizations launched a playful way to interact with some of their findings collected over the past five-and-a-half decades—a name generator.

Using the tool is simple: type in your name, or any word, and Landsat returns it in the form of vertical snapshots of a wide range of terrain. Just like we see with composites of Mars, for instance, scientists have digitally enhanced some images to highlight specific features. Those used for “Your Name in Landsat” sport a wide array of hues, textures, and patterns that glimpse the diversity of our planet’s surface.

Eight vertical frames of the earth's surface captured from NASA's Landsat program with landforms that loosely resemble letters of the alphabet, arranged to spell "COLOSSAL"
“Colossal”

Landsat is an incredible resource that features time-lapses of changing land use over several decades. Even this playful name generator allows you to hover over individual images and learn the exact locations—down to the coordinates—and all of the program’s data is publicly accessible. For example, the “C” in “Colossal” above is a vertical view of a cloud-speckled Deception Island in Antarctica, and the “A” is the uniquely shaped Lake Mjøsa in Norway.

You might also enjoy Overview, a book that chronicles how the landscape has changed over time. Learn more about Landsat from NASA. (via PetaPixel)

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Spell Your Name with NASA’s Earthly Alphabet of Aerial Images appeared first on Colossal.

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