This project combines the art of photography with traditional Yucatecan hand- made crafts. In the Yucatán peninsula and throughout Mexico, artisan work is an important source of income for families who practice subsistence agriculture. It also plays a crucial role in indigenous identity, most notably in the traditional dress called huipil.
Presented here is the result of collaborating with artisans in the Mayan community of Yaxhachén, municipality of Oxkutzkab, Yucatán. As a way of sharing knowledge and experiences across languages and borders, we lived and created together as artists over the course of two months.
The royal blue prints are a historic photographic process called cyanotype, which is sensitive only to ultraviolet light. I combine this technique with the digital photography we know today to create pieces that examine tradition and modernity.
JATS’UTS KUXTAL means “a beautiful life” in Yucatec Mayan. Through art, this project aims to examine themes of rural life: gender, labor, tradition, poverty, nature, community.
This project was realized with the support of the non-profit organizations Ko’ox Boon and YAXHA Bordados as part of an artist residency. It satisfied the senior project requirement for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic and was exhibited in the Ethel H. Blum Gallery in Bar Harbor Maine in May 2016.
ARTISANS IN PARTICIPATION: Irma Cauich Cauich, Anarosa May May, Eneyda Moo García, Bacila Tzek Uc, María Yaquilin Us, Ananias Us May, Oliberto Us May, Serafina Us Moo
THANK YOU: June Kim, Josh Winer, Catherine Clinger, Karla Peña Zapata, Maya Critchfield
This project combines the art of photography with traditional Yucatecan hand- made crafts. In the Yucatán peninsula and throughout Mexico, artisan work is an important source of income for families who practice subsistence agriculture. It also plays a crucial role in indigenous identity, most notably in the traditional dress called huipil.
Presented here is the result of collaborating with artisans in the Mayan community of Yaxhachén, municipality of Oxkutzkab, Yucatán. As a way of sharing knowledge and experiences across languages and borders, we lived and created together as artists over the course of two months.
The royal blue prints are a historic photographic process called cyanotype, which is sensitive only to ultraviolet light. I combine this technique with the digital photography we know today to create pieces that examine tradition and modernity.
JATS’UTS KUXTAL means “a beautiful life” in Yucatec Mayan. Through art, this project aims to examine themes of rural life: gender, labor, tradition, poverty, nature, community.
This project was realized with the support of the non-profit organizations Ko’ox Boon and YAXHA Bordados as part of an artist residency. It satisfied the senior project requirement for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic and was exhibited in the Ethel H. Blum Gallery in Bar Harbor Maine in May 2016.
ARTISANS IN PARTICIPATION: Irma Cauich Cauich, Anarosa May May, Eneyda Moo García, Bacila Tzek Uc, María Yaquilin Us, Ananias Us May, Oliberto Us May, Serafina Us Moo
THANK YOU: June Kim, Josh Winer, Catherine Clinger, Karla Peña Zapata, Maya Critchfield
This project combines the art of photography with traditional Yucatecan hand- made crafts. In the Yucatán peninsula and throughout Mexico, artisan work is an important source of income for families who practice subsistence agriculture. It also plays a crucial role in indigenous identity, most notably in the traditional dress called huipil.
Presented here is the result of collaborating with artisans in the Mayan community of Yaxhachén, municipality of Oxkutzkab, Yucatán. As a way of sharing knowledge and experiences across languages and borders, we lived and created together as artists over the course of two months.
The royal blue prints are a historic photographic process called cyanotype, which is sensitive only to ultraviolet light. I combine this technique with the digital photography we know today to create pieces that examine tradition and modernity.
JATS’UTS KUXTAL means “a beautiful life” in Yucatec Mayan. Through art, this project aims to examine themes of rural life: gender, labor, tradition, poverty, nature, community.
This project was realized with the support of the non-profit organizations Ko’ox Boon and YAXHA Bordados as part of an artist residency. It satisfied the senior project requirement for the Bachelor of Arts in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic and was exhibited in the Ethel H. Blum Gallery in Bar Harbor Maine in May 2016.
ARTISANS IN PARTICIPATION: Irma Cauich Cauich, Anarosa May May, Eneyda Moo García, Bacila Tzek Uc, María Yaquilin Us, Ananias Us May, Oliberto Us May, Serafina Us Moo
THANK YOU: June Kim, Josh Winer, Catherine Clinger, Karla Peña Zapata, Maya Critchfield
Bacila Tzek Uc, Midwife of Yaxhachén II
Bacila Tzek Uc, Midwife of Yaxhachén III
Guano
Bacila Tzek Uc, Midwife of Yaxhachén I
The comal
Bougainvillia, Becca Haydu and Ananias Us May. Cyanotype and paint on cotton in wooden hoop. 12” diameter.
Home
Arnica, Irma Cauich Cauich and Becca Haydu, Cyanotype and embroidery on cotton, 12 x 14"
Irma embroidering
Harvest
Bees
Shpu'ul, Becca Haydu and Serafina Us Moo, Cyanotype and paint on cotton
Kelita
In the milpa
Chu'um, Becca Haydu and Anarosa May May, Cyanotype and embroidery on cotton. 9" diameter.
Luminaria, Becca Haydu and Yaqui Us, Cyanotype and paint on cotton, 11" diameter
Maíz
Gili playing with flowers
Men at work
Oliberto opening a coconut
Flor, Becca Haydu and Yaqui Us, Cyanotype and paint on cotton, 11" diameter
Irma's makeover
Yaqui at the waterhole
Delfina, Becca Haydu and Eneyda Moo García, Cyanotype and embroidery on cotton, 11" diameter
Delfina collecting flowers
Exhibition opening flyer based on Frida Khalo's "The Two Fridas"