Botanical Memory I-V
99% Cochineal, with occasional citric drops and vinegar, gum arabic, and sea salt on paper. 2022-24
Botanical Memory IV. 156 x 250 cm
Botanical Memory V. 240 x 140 cm
Botanical Memory I. 32 x 41 cm
Botanical Memory II. 41 x 32 cm
Botanical Memory III. 32 x 41 cm
Our Botanical Memory describes a form of environmental or place memory, focused on the memories, and the emotional connection we have to plants we have lived with. Since my childhood the landscape I remember has been inhabited by prickly pears, plants that give a special personality to the countryside… like beings with curious shapes that accompanied the houses.
Since a few years ago it pains me to observe how in many areas of the Mediterranean the majority of the Opuntia Ficus-indica, are dying or are in poor condition. As a painter, upon learning that a cochineal that produced dye was attacking them, I found it interesting to express the plant's struggle for survival, with the colors that appear when cleaning it from the parasite, in an attempt to relieve it from the plague. Tones, and strokes that express the resistance of the plant, hidden under the appearance of the cottony substance that covers it.
I founded SOS Cochichumbas in 2012, uniting artists, and activists inspired by the prickly pear, to create, raise awareness, and share solutions about its possible care, since we consider it our landscape, a cultural asset.
During this investigation we are discovering it’s varied uses such as agricultural, and culinary, and how this plant can be essential to our present and future lives.
We create art, and offer workshops, conversations and demonstrations focused on the endangered Opuntia ficus indica (called nopal in México where it originally comes from), and its relationship with the pest Dactylopius opuntiae, and the dye bug Dactylopius coccus.
Follow us on Instagram for more information: @sos_cochichumbas