mamaz collective: May 2010

María García
"Anidación"

Ana Gómez
" MON863"

Emilia Sandoval
"en el laboratorio"

In Mesoamerican myths, the origin of maize varies from tales of gods fashioning men out of cornmeal to a god’s transformation into an ant in order to find maize. Each tale outlines allegorical figures’ journeys and roles in the beginning and transformation of humanity with the aid of one of the most pivotal and culturally-significant foods in history: maize.

How has one plant pervaded the history of the Americas and continued to crucially affect an ongoing contemporary populace?

Marietta Bernstorff
"100 pesos para el Bicentenario"

María Ezcurra
"Siuakoatl"

Mariana Gullco
"Universo 1"

Scholar Matthew Looper suggests that due to the distinct male (the tassel) and female organs (ear and silks) of maize there is an androgynous nature to this plant that reverberates in its cultural reveration among specifically the Maya. However, maize’s mirroring of women’s fecundity and males’ dissemination is pertinent in the cyclical nature of all human reproduction, apart from a particular culture, and in extension exemplifies the essence of humanity’s continuation in the universe. The significance of this plant penetrated the visual, religious, and nutritional history of the America’s and continues to be relevant even in present day as an exemplary case of past conflicting with present.

Diana Mendietta
"Pozo petrolero"

Jessica González
"Raíz de nuestra cultura"

In Mexico, corn tortillas nearly doubled in price resulting in economic and dietary turmoil among many families in 2007. Due to the fact corn tortillas still remain a staple of the Mexican diet this monetary development affected the general Mexican public and particularly the poor. Marietta Bernstorff created and launched the initial Maize is Our Life exhibition with twenty-eight local women artists in Oaxaca, Mexico to address these current issues and to initiate a visual protest. The success of this collaboration evolved into more exhibitions in Mexico City, Cuba, Vancouver, and San Diego each with an individual curatorial vision but with the same central objective of artists exploring maize’s influence and magnitude in a visual capacity.

Margarita de la Peña
"A corazón abierto la sanación de nuestro maíz.
transgénicos no gracias"

María Santis Gómez

Minerva Hernández
"La danza de la fertilidad"

In this present exhibition, the artists I have selected offer a gamut of personalized interpretation. From attestant to storyteller, these artists interweave motifs such as sustenance, renewal, and rebirth juxtaposing the natural with the digital. Each piece identifies maize’s cyclical nature and addresses the characteristics of process and sequence in a declaration of environmental awareness. Although varying in iconographic message, this group of artistic voices creates an ongoing dialogue of education and appreciation for the seemingly omnipresent role of maize in our society.

-Claudia Zapata
Curator of Maize is Our Life –Austin, TX

Nadja Massun
"Ritual del maíz"

Sara Corestein
"Madre Maíz 2"

Christa Klickwort
"Péndulo de Maiz"

Ira Bernstorff
"Mzorcas de la costurera"

Maddalena Forcella
"Elote"

Adriana Calatayud
"Las mújeres de trenza"

May 29th from 9 to 2pm,   San Agustin, Etla, Oaxaca.  Phone 521 3093

When women share thread and thought, great things happen. For centuries, women have united to sew quilts and talk about the issues of the day. The slow rhythm of the stitching relaxes the body and frees the mind to reflect. In this workshop, we will reflect upon the importance of corn in our lives. Corn has played an important role in the history of our nutrition, culture and tradition. Each participant will transfer her personal interpretation of the subject onto cloth.

No sewing experience is required. We will discuss the basic techniques needed to create one square of a collaborative quilt. The concept of the square is the most important aspect.   We ask all participants to bring scissors and a sewing needle. We also ask people to bring as much as the can of the following materials:

-any and all scrap fabrics (preferably with bright colors and natural fibers. Used clothing is fine too).

-embroidery thread, buttons, lace and any other kind of notion you have on hand.

-a dish of your choice to share with the group.

To get an idea of numbers, we ask you to confirm your attendance in an email to oaxmaiz@yahoo.com.

Thanks,

Noel Chilton, Mary Jo Vath, and Mariana Gullco  Mujeres Artistas y el Maíz