2023
Laser engraving on sapodilla resin (vegan mayan bubblegum).
14.8 x 18.8”

 

The relationship between humans and their material surroundings is close, intimate, and complex. Even in this age of globalization, humans create things from the raw materials closest at hand. One example of this relationship is the resin from the Manilkara Zapota tree, better known as “Chico Zapote,” which was used by the Maya as chewing gum.

This work presents a map of the paths created by the Mayan communities that were dedicated to extracting this resin in the gum-producing region of southeastern Mexico. After the US intervention war, during which Americans became familiar with Mayan gum, Thomas Adams Jr. created the American Gum Company, adding sugar and coloring to the original recipe. He first popularized it in the United States, and then the US military took it to many parts of the world. This historical process created a combination of human beings, political and social relationships, and raw materials that plunged the community into a crisis triggered by the demand of a market unrelated to the product’s origin.

The name of this work is a Mayan glyph that means Yaaj, a word for “wound” but which also denotes “to love” and “beloved thing,” the painful love of the human-material relationship.