Ortuño explains that ‘El oro de Centro America’ is inspired by the beginnings and formations of the spirits that are part of the shamanic indigenous rituals in Costa Rica. Here, Ortuño presents the formations of these spirits almost like a volcanic eruption; the rich, warm red colour of the painting reminds the viewer of the inside of a forge. In ‘El oro de Centro America’ Ortuño imagines the hot belly of a volcano as the primordial soup of the world.

In 600 A.D. Costa Rica, indigenous spirits were often made into golden casts and carried around by the population as shamanic idols. Ortuño explains that, during the colonisation of Latin America, most of these shamanic golden casts and handcrafted items of jewellery were forcibly seized by the colonisers because of their value in gold. Ortuño reflects on this by titling the piece " El Oro de Centroamérica" which translates to "The Gold of Central America"