Cochineal Saga
2024
This series of paintings look at the entangled colonial history of cochineal, the British military and Australian ecological disaster.
Cochineal is a powerful red dye that comes from the cochineal bug, which grows on certain prickly pear cacti. Europeans went mad for it when the Spanish started importing it from their colonial territory in Central America, particularly from Mexico where the Aztecs had cultivated it for a long time. British military redcoat uniforms were dyed with it, which became problematic when the British were at war with the Spanish, literally soaking their red uniforms with their own blood while paying Spain for the red dye. The botanist Joseph Banks had the bright idea to try to grow the prickly pear to cultivate the insects in Australia, but that led to disaster as well. It turned out they brought the wrong kind of cactus and the cochineal insects did not survive. Without the insect as a predator, the cacti became a pernicious blight, spreading and taking over swathes of agricultural land. Eventually, in the early 20th century, Australia introduced the cactus moth, which helped to bring the cacti under control. I am interested in this story because of the long-term knock-off effects of meddling with nature in this way, when the people in charge don't really know what they are doing--a theme that continues to be all too relevant today.
Cochineal is a powerful red dye that comes from the cochineal bug, which grows on certain prickly pear cacti. Europeans went mad for it when the Spanish started importing it from their colonial territory in Central America, particularly from Mexico where the Aztecs had cultivated it for a long time. British military redcoat uniforms were dyed with it, which became problematic when the British were at war with the Spanish, literally soaking their red uniforms with their own blood while paying Spain for the red dye. The botanist Joseph Banks had the bright idea to try to grow the prickly pear to cultivate the insects in Australia, but that led to disaster as well. It turned out they brought the wrong kind of cactus and the cochineal insects did not survive. Without the insect as a predator, the cacti became a pernicious blight, spreading and taking over swathes of agricultural land. Eventually, in the early 20th century, Australia introduced the cactus moth, which helped to bring the cacti under control. I am interested in this story because of the long-term knock-off effects of meddling with nature in this way, when the people in charge don't really know what they are doing--a theme that continues to be all too relevant today.
Cochineal Saga: The Battle,
2024,
acrylic and oil on gessoed panel, 20cm x 30cm x 1cm
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