Thinking of El Tule

This is a mole painting on canvas, as the art residency Enmorlate prescribed. Mole is a traditional sauce for Mexican food made of various ingredients and spices.

During the residency, I was researching the history of Oaxaca and its many traditions tracing back to the Zapotec and Miztec civilizations; meanwhile, I was inspired by the view of bamboo in the studio, which led me to think of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove who lived during the third century CE. I contemplated bringing the two disconnected civilizations into one image and creating any possible cross-culture connection.

A trip to see the thousands-year-old tree El Tule, not far from Oaxaca, inspired this painting. The ancient tree has witnessed changes in civilization, and I imagined, in a parallel world, it watched the fate of Ji Kang, the famous poet and musician and prominent figure of the seven sages of the bamboo grove.

Since the material is a sauce, it is suitable for painting with hands. I painted my impression of the tree and added the broken Chinese zither as a metaphor for Ji Kang's death underneath the tree.