This series of 10 small works on paper, 19 x13” executed in watercolor and pencil represent the history and development of corn, or maize. For more than a decade I have explored the art, culture and imagery of
The cob on this plant is beginning to bud and is barely 1 inche long. For the Maya, bloodletting was vital to the production of maize and all agricultural products. Bloodletting by a Mayan king was considered to be a central act of piety because blood was viewed as a sacred living substance that is in our bodies and passed from generation to generation. Sacrifice was oriented toward fertility and with the hope that crops (corn in particular) would be bountiful.
