An Obsession With Corn

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This last year, my art practice took on an obsession with a certain Aztecan prayer; the subject of that prayer, corn.

The prayer reads thus: “It is I, the person. Pay attention, sister seed, who is sustenance. Pay attention, princess Earth, for now I entrust into your hands my sister, the one who gives us, or the one who is, our sustenance.” [1]

Such a beautiful, slow living, and gracious meditation on the planting of a remarkably humble, yet important, food source.

Observing our current political and religious climate had me searching, both within the multiverse of media, as well as through historical and archaeological records, for answers and understanding.

Sustenance, survival, the grace of trusting a system—such as nature—with the responsibility of providing that sustenance, and the power play of humans trying to control, own, and distribute what nature produces has been the underlying focus of my research. I wanted to comprehend the correlations between food and power structures, food and religiosity/spirituality, and food and familial ties, particularly within a Mesoamerican context.

With an Italian heritage, food is an important part of my life experience and curiosity.

From the seed wars between farmers and agricultural biotech companies in the U.S. [2], to fertilizer regulation [3] and farmer protests in Europe [4], corporate rewilding projects in the U.K. [5], and beyond, the complexities of modern food-getting practices are growing; and one cannot help but mention that alongside these complex systems, the hand of power to control and manipulate the many different forms of food-getting practices is over-extending its reach and grip.

From an Anthropological stand point, the relationship between how humans get their food and cultural civilization is pivotal. In modernity, these systems have become complex, even confusing, and are at an all time critical juncture.

With all of this in mind, my research and study on Mesoamerican food practices, specifically between the 13th and 16th centuries, has taken on new meaning.

The simplicity of the Aztecan prayer for corn, has awakened in me a new perspective; the gentle and intentional words take me back, not only to human roots of more basic forms of food-getting practices, but to my own intuitive desire to boil down the complexities of modernity into a more joyful and personal practice of gratitude for the simplicity found within natural cycles of planting and harvest, and an overwhelming urge for greater peace as one learns to entrust oneself into the hands of princess Earth.

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This perspective shift is not a naive one, for it’s impossible to avoid the complexities and the disappointments of our time, and of the past. Food-getting has been, and will always be, problematic for humans. Famine and other natural disasters, politics, poor planting and consumption practices, water-shortages, and so forth, will forever be intricately involved in our human capacity to acquire sustenance.

The Aztec themselves were also a living example of this common, and ironic, human conundrum, that alongside the beautiful coexists the terrible. They were, simultaneously, a poetic and blood-thirsty people [6]. Sounds familiar.

Despite having to recognize and face these complications during this art study, my attention has gradually been turned from the difficulties to the beauties. With every stroke of the brush, I’ve found a real appreciation for a simple seed and how that seemingly insignificant singularity is an entity of beauty and perfection unto itself.

What used to be easy to overlook, I now see symbolically in everything.

Yes, we all participate in the global food madness; we all want to eat our fair share to survive and thrive. That is human nature.

However, like my Italian ancestors, there is also a desire to savor, to appreciate, and to worship, in a sense, at the alter of abundance and love that is our true sustenance; to trust and commune with a divine hope of simple truisms.

The gentle thrusting of a seed into the womb of princess Earth, the careful cultivation and prayer for rain and sun to nourish that seed, and the hope for an abundant and precious harvest from the one who is, our sustenance, is a balm of goodwill that helps us reverse the stress and anxiety of our time and return to gratitude, principles of harmony and balance, and well-being, rather than simply being.

I breathe a sigh of relief as I write, ponder on, and paint the words of this humble Aztecan prayer for corn, and the stress of complexities I can neither control nor fully comprehend continue to melt away as I contemplate entrusting into friendly and familial hands all that I am and have, as simple and insignificant as that may seem to all that is modernity.

My hope is that these Mesomaerican inspired pieces will be able to articulate this feeling I have attempted to share in this post as I’ve researched, pondered on, and painted both the complexities and beauties of allowing the simple and the sacred to inform and transform the complex, stressful, and anxiety ridden into greater abundance, divine communion, and deeper gratitude.

Our modern era is full of so much to be grateful for, so long as we can remain grateful for it.

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Images:
[Image 1] “Seeds of Hope”, original artwork, Thalia Black, Mesoamerican series
[Image 2] “Princess Earth”, original artwork, Thalia Black, Mesoamerican series

References:
[1] Prayer For Corn
https://www.mexicolore.co.uk/aztecs/ask-experts/did-the-aztecs-say-a-prayer-before-eating
[2] Bowman vs. Mansanto
https://www.sustainablebusiness.com/2014/01/supreme-court-sides-with-monsanto-against-organic-farmers-52085/
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/02/18/171896311/farmers-fight-with-monsanto-reaches-the-supreme-court
https://belonging.berkeley.edu/bowman-v-monsanto-monopoly-over-global-food-system
[3] Fertilizer regulation in Europe
https://www.fertilizerseurope.com/agriculture-environment/fertilizing-products-regulation/
https://www.eesc.europa.eu/en/news-media/news/addressing-fertiliser-crisis-europe-actions-availability-affordability-and-sustainability
[4] Dutch Farmers revolt
https://unherd.com/2022/07/why-dutch-farmers-are-revolting/
[5] Rewilding in U.K.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSs8FfjUz-c
https://www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/
[6] Mesoamerican archaeologist Ed Barnhart on the Aztecs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzzE7GOvYz8