The red path of the corn people

60x100cm; 2x3ft 

Criollo sheep wool dyed with aniline dyes. 

This rug depicts the sacred mountain range around the central valley of Oaxaca that creates the microclimate that makes life possible and the cultivation of corn a way of life.  There is also a teeth like pattern that reminds us that smiling and laughing is the source of true healing, the effects of smiling on the brain and health of individuals is well researched and documented by now.  There is a  stripe of rain pattern to remind us of our need to pray for rain, because the rain doesn't only feed our bodies throug plants but also feeds our spirit. 

The diamond shaped pattern made of the dots reoresent the plants of the milpa food system (corn, beans, squash, chia, amaranth, chillies, marigold flowers...etc) This seeds look like DNA in that diamond formation inspired from the skin of the rattle snake. We are what we eat so we are the corn people, but it goes deeper than that. In our stories of creation, we were made out of corn masa and given life with the breath of the goods.