La Molienda
La Molienda (The Grinding), 2015 – 2022. Installation and Performance, 18 old stone metates, grana cochineal ground and HD video. Variable measures
A group of women grinds cochineal on metates, leaving the pigment as a record of the performative action. The sound of that task becomes the protagonist. The grana, called in Nahuatl nocheztli (blood of tunas), was used both for staining ceramics and textiles, as well as for writing and drawing on murals and amate paper. The cochineal is an insect domesticated in Mexico that lives as a parasite on the surface of nopales, from which the dye is extracted.
The presence of the pigment in this piece evokes the commercial exchange that was made with it in colonial times, the exploitation of the territory and the political and resistance force that the rescue of this raw material represents.
Beneficio de la grana cochinilla
Beneficio de la grana cochinilla (Benefit of grana cochineal), 2015. Series of ten cross stitch embroidery with thread dyed with scarlet. Variable measures
This work is composed of a series of cross-stitch embroidery with thread woven with grana pigment. The embroidery was made by María Santiago and is based on the illustrations of the book by José Antonio Alzate of 1794 “Beneficio de la grana cochinilla” (Benefit of the cochineal grana).
Nocheztli
Nocheztli, 2015. Installation with prickly pear cactus infested with cochineal and red wall. Variable measures.
Installation from 800 pieces of prickly pear cactus infested with cochineal. The fine grana were called in Náhuatl “nocheztli”, a word that means the blood of tunas, and was used to dye ceramics and textiles as well as to write and draw murals and amate paper. In Zapotec it is called “bee”, and in Mixteco “nduco”.
The fine cochineal (Dactylopius Coccus Costa) is a domesticated insect in Mexico that lives as a parasite on the surface of nopales, and has been cultivated since pre-Hispanic times for the production of the scarlet, red dye very quoted for its multiple uses in the dyeing of textile fibers, the food industry, in cosmetics, among other methods. It is grown for periods of 80-90 days, and its life cycle begins when the egg comes out a small larva and sits on a prickly pear cactus and goes through several stages of development.
The dye is extracted from the adult females, whose nymphs are fixed on one side of the stalk, where they remove the juices from the plant. For the production of scarlet requires intensive and careful cultivation of fine grana that involves cleaning, selecting and collecting by hand the insects.
The ones used in this installation come from the Center of Dissemination for the Knowledge of the Grana Cochinilla Tlapanocheztli, by maestro Manuel Loera.
Acerca del rojo
Acerca del rojo (About red), 2015. Hand embroidery over cotton on wood hoops. Variable dimensions
A series of hoop embroideries with phrases related to the color red.
