An East San Jose artist is invoking an Aztec deity to keep a new fire station and its firefighters safe from harm.
Artist Jesse Hernandez has created two metal murals featuring Tlaloc, the Aztec rain god, displayed on the exterior of Fire Station 8, slated to open later this year. The new 5,500 square-foot, two-story fire station at 601 E. Santa Clara St. in San Jose is replacing the old station down the street, which served the city for more than 75 years. The new station has a fueling station and infrastructure to support electric fire engines.
“Tlaloc, the Aztec rain deity, now blesses the fire station, honoring our indigenous relatives, with hopes he will watch over and protect the neighborhood and its people,” Hernandez told San José Spotlight. “Tlaloc is often pictured with a jug of flowing water, represented here with a ladder and fire hose mixed into the water flow, honoring the firefighters.”
Hernandez said the design of the jug is an homage to water baskets of California’s native tribes and the station number is an ouroboros in the style of Quetzalcoatl, another Mesoamerican deity. The ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a serpent or dragon eating its tail and represents unity and the cyclical nature of life, death and rebirth. The shining metal murals — mirror images of each other — hang against a backdrop of fire engine red, painted the same shade as the station…