Ambulatorio (Ahm-Boo-Lah-Toh-Ree-Oh)
Ambulatory
The ambulatory is a an architectural feature in a catholic church. Worshippers are encouraged to walk through the ambulatory, stopping at each chapel to meditate, and then continue to the next. In yoga it would be considered a moving meditation.
Here two jaguars move through rhythmic saguaros toward a body of water. Their reflections punctuate the surface.
The jaguar’s movement through the painting is similar to the movement of the viewer in the gallery. Each painting is a place for meditation. The gallery is the ambulatory, the viewer, the migrant.

In the background of this painting is depicted the mountain la Malinche. The mountain is named after the historical figure Malintzín. A brilliant slave, she was captured by Cortes to act as his translator and guide to the Aztec emperor Moctezuma. She ultimately became Cortes’ lover and bore him children.
She is considered the mother of the first mestizo (half European/half indigenous) and a traitor to the indigenous people of Mexico. Like so many historical women, she is reviled and revered.