Back in April of 2026 I visited Mexico. The trip was organized by Mayan Spirit, an organization that brings together artists once a year to explore a remote area of Mexico where Maya ruins are being uncovered deep in the jungle, and to meet the local communities who live nearby.
It’s difficult to put into words how it feels to experience these ruins in such an intimate setting. There were just twelve of us, deep in the jungle, walking around and inside the remains of buildings dating back well over a thousand years. These weren’t the typical giant pyramids you might imagine. They were ancient Maya towns, places where people lived. Standing alone in a room and imagining a Maya family sleeping and sharing meals there over a millennium ago was surreal. The fact that these were places of everyday life made the connection feel deeply personal, something easier to feel than to explain.
My piece, People of the Sky, illustrates the awe and wonder I felt upon arriving at these ancient sites. I wanted to transmit the feeling of walking along a path through thick jungle and suddenly stumbling upon a three-story building that has stood there for centuries.
The work also references the deep connection the ancient Maya had with the sky. They were astronomers. For them, the sky was a calendar, a source of the divine, and a guide for life. Some of their buildings were aligned with celestial events, connecting religious practices with the practical need to track seasonal cycles for agriculture.
100% of the proceeds from the mint will go directly to Mayan Spirit to support local families and help conserve the surrounding jungle and ruins.
Chema Mendez is a mixed-media digital artist based in Spain whose work blends classical imagery with contemporary aesthetics.
His work is created through the combination of paintings and illustrations in the public domain, photography, 3D renders, AI-generated content, and original media using advanced compositing techniques. By bringing together a wide range of visual elements, he constructs scenes that feel both familiar and impossible, inviting viewers to find their own meaning within each composition.
