Mexican Canadian artist Abigail Roscoe transforms personal adversity into a mythology inspired story of resilience, identity, and Aztec culture.
Some stories are imagined. Others are earned through lived experience.
For Mexican Canadian illustrator, writer, and multidisciplinary artist Abigail Roscoe, The Sixth Sun represents both. Drawing inspiration from Aztec and Mesoamerican mythology, the ambitious transmedia project has grown from years of personal hardship into a creative vision that is now taking its next step through animation.
Roscoe recently launched a Kickstarter campaign to finance a hand drawn proof of concept trailer developed in partnership with Mexican animation studio Viva Calavera. While the campaign focuses on bringing the world of The Sixth Sun to the screen, the project itself tells a much deeper story about perseverance, cultural heritage, and the power of creating even in life’s most difficult moments.
Over the past several years, Roscoe has faced challenges that fundamentally changed both her personal life and creative career. After developing chronic pain in 2021, she was later diagnosed with fibromyalgia and arthritis. In 2026, complications caused by glaucoma resulting from a medical error led to the removal of her left eye.
Rather than stepping away from her work, Roscoe used those experiences to shape a story centered on hope, transformation, and finding purpose through creativity.
“The Sixth Sun exists because I refused to stop creating,” Roscoe said. “After losing my left eye, I kept returning to one question. Why do we continue making art when the future feels uncertain? Creating this story became my own answer.”
Inspired by Mexico’s Stories
Roscoe’s relationship with storytelling began long before The Sixth Sun.
Raised in Mexico, she grew up surrounded by traditional folklore, mythology, and visual art that sparked her imagination from an early age. Those influences remained with her throughout her artistic development, eventually inspiring her to explore how ancient Mesoamerican traditions could be presented through contemporary storytelling.
Although many mythological traditions have been widely adapted in modern entertainment, Roscoe felt that stories rooted in Aztec culture remained comparatively underrepresented.
“When I was young, Mexican mythology inspired so much of my imagination,” she said. “I wanted to see those stories presented with the same sense of scale and excitement as other mythologies. Eventually I realized I could help create that representation myself.”
After studying illustration and animation in the Netherlands, Roscoe built a multidisciplinary career that combined storytelling, education, illustration, and environmental advocacy.
Her work has included projects such as Yuka’s Way Home, developed alongside Indigenous Sámi reindeer herders in Northern Norway, as well as educational collaborations with organizations including the Caribou Conservation Alliance and the Vancouver Aquarium. Across each project, she has focused on making complex environmental and cultural topics accessible through visual storytelling.
Creativity Through Change
Roscoe’s career continued even as her health presented increasing challenges.
Living with chronic pain and later adapting to vision loss required her to rethink many aspects of both daily life and artistic practice. Despite these changes, she remained committed to completing The Sixth Sun.
One particularly meaningful moment occurred when Episode Four of the series was released on the same day she underwent surgery to remove her left eye. Although the timing was entirely unplanned, it reflected the determination that has defined the project’s development.
Today, Roscoe speaks openly about disability, accessibility, chronic illness, trauma, and vision loss, encouraging other artists to continue pursuing creative work regardless of the obstacles they encounter.
“I hope other disabled artists see that their voices deserve to be heard,” she said. “Disability does not erase creativity. Our experiences shape the stories we tell, and those stories matter.”
Reimagining Ancient Mythology
Set in modern day Mexico City, The Sixth Sun follows Temo, a queer musician whose ordinary life changes after a supernatural encounter at Chapultepec Lake. Guided by the nahual Ollin and the trickster deity Huehuecóyotl, he learns that the Fifth Sun, according to Mesoamerican cosmology, is approaching its final days.
As forgotten forces begin to return, humanity faces environmental collapse, historical wounds, and an uncertain future. Rather than focusing solely on destruction, the story explores what people choose to build when old systems begin to disappear.
Through mythology, music, and supernatural storytelling, The Sixth Sun examines themes of disability, identity, resilience, climate grief, and hope. Its monsters reflect modern fears, while creativity itself becomes a powerful form of resistance.
Built by Artists for Artists
Roscoe has also made a deliberate commitment to keeping the project entirely human created. Every aspect of The Sixth Sun, including its writing, artwork, music, performances, and animation, has been developed without the use of generative artificial intelligence.
Original music for the project is composed by Canadian musician Rich Aucoin, while Viva Calavera is leading animation development. Kickstarter funding will help produce a professionally animated proof of concept that serves as the next step toward a future feature length film.
For Roscoe, the project represents more than an artistic achievement. It reflects years of determination to continue creating despite disability, chronic illness, and profound personal change.
“The Sixth Sun asks what humanity creates when everything seems to be falling apart,” Roscoe said. “For me, that question became deeply personal. Losing my eye changed how I see the world, but it also reminded me why stories matter. In Aztec cosmology, every ending also carries the possibility of a new beginning. That hope is at the heart of everything I want this story to become.”
About Coyote Studio
Coyote Studio is the independent creative studio founded by Mexican Canadian artist Abigail Roscoe. Its flagship project, The Sixth Sun, combines mythology, illustration, animation, and storytelling to present a contemporary vision inspired by Aztec and Mesoamerican traditions. Developed alongside Mexican animation studio Viva Calavera, the project continues to grow toward a feature length animated film.
Additional information about The Sixth Sun, the Kickstarter campaign at The Sixth Sun- Aztec Mythology for the Modern Day by Coyote Studio, Kickstarter or visit Coyote Studio’s official website for additional information. Roscoe also shares updates through her YouTube and Facebook channels. Media inquiries can be directed to co************@***il.com.
