About this project

I would like to invite you to participate in an artwork that will be part of a show to raise awareness about violence in Juarez, Mexico. This particular piece refers to the maquiladoras (sweatshops), the violence against women they have fueled, and existing alternatives – and it relies on your participation to be complete.

Over the months leading up to the show I have been dyeing tens of thousands of yards of organic cotton, silk, and wool with cochineal—a tiny insect from Oaxaca that produces a powerful red dye. I’m using this yarn to weave a number of blankets, pillows, and scarves for an installation that will take place in September. I am documenting this process of dyeing and weaving and will share this with you as I go. The gallery installation itself includes a space in which you can interact with the pillows and blankets handwoven from the dyed yarn as well as an area where I will be weaving a blanket out of the dyed yarn over the two-week period.

Through Kickstarter, I hope to involve as many people as possible in the production of the artwork’s elements and distribute the piece amongst those who participate rather than selling it as a single, completed work. While the contributions you make will provide vital support to cover some of my expenses of mounting this exhibition (yarn, dye, and other raw materials and tools), it is most important to me that the items I make here have lives that continue beyond the show and that their distribution reflect the possibilities for alternative modes of production, circulation, and consumption that already exist in our world.

Everyone who contributes will receive credit in the form of your name listed with the piece when it is exhibited and online. For contributions above $15 I will also send you a personalized thank you written on the back of a postcard-sized high quality image of the installation and some of the cochineal-dyed yarn from the show. For larger contributions you can select to receive one of the handwoven objects, all completely unique and available on a first come first served basis.

So what is the meaning of this piece and why cochineal?:

The installation's title: "The males have wings while it is the females whose bodies are crushed to extract their red dye. But red is also the color of the sun."

The cochineal insect has been used for its red dye for at least 1000 years in Mexico, Central and South America. It produces what is considered to be the best natural red dye in the world, used in everything from textile dyes and paint pigments to food coloring and cosmetics. The female insects contain carminic acid, which acts to protect her from certain predators while she is fertile. It is the carminic acid that also produces such a powerful red dye.

In the 1500s the dye became an important trade good under Colonialism, first exported from Mexico by the Spanish. It is one part of the history of colonial and capitalist exploitation of resources, people, and knowledge from the region.

This process of making contains a dual metaphor. It is a visualization of the violence that often lies behind the products we consume (even objects made for our own comfort and security). It is simultaneously a visualization of an alternative: a hand production process that brings together producer and consumer and that has thoughtfully considered the network of people and materials that make up the production of this particular object of comfort and intimacy (The materials I use in this case are organic or natural and come from small-scale producers and through personal relationships wherever possible).

The color red itself offers the potential of multiple meanings for the viewer. Throughout history it has symbolized power and strength; sin; anger; courage; warning; and love and intimacy. And for Aztecs, red is the color of the sun.

THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS PROJECT POSSIBLE! Even if you are not able to participate through Kickstarter, I hope you will stop by the show in New York – more details to follow.