There’s an old Mayan legend about the jaguar and his spots. It goes that the jaguar—noble, agile, deliberate hunter of the jungle—occasionally moves too quickly. When he gets ahead of himself, darting relentlessly from limb to limb, he begins to shed his spots. Very rarely, one can find these spots littering the jungle floor, and this evidence of his otherwise silent movements makes the jaguar vulnerable.

Ok. There’s no such Mayan myth. I just made it up. Nice though, eh? Regardless, it’s an apt metaphor for this book. The creative process is messy and inefficient, and it leaves behind a trail often hidden in the jungle of finished objects, images, etc. Moving quickly, almost ceaselessly, from one project to another across various media, quite a pile of visual detritus is shed and accumulates. And yet, some of these unique moments deserve a day in the sun. So here they are.

The images were arranged very quickly and loosely. Although, no doubt some internal rhythms and rhymes are at play—structures that I couldn’t even fully explain if I tried. Does the jaguar love his own spots? Is he even aware they are his?

Matt Wizinsky / Studio Junglecat
2014