Catalog Entry from If These Walls Could Talk Exhibit, Neill-Cochran House 2020:

shown with LEAP-FROGGING OUT OF THE MELTING POT I am grateful to the Neill- Cochran House Museum for allowing this mildly subversive sculpture on their lovely antebellum dining table. Centerpieces on dining tables have always been a trivial yet serious concern to a hostess with the mostess. Usually a combination of flowers, fruit, and candles, centerpieces need to set the tone, add beauty, and yet not distract from the conversation. This ensemble of Fritos and all the ingredients for chili and guacamole was made alongside the fondue pot of queso, but can be separated into two set-ups. (see Leap-Frogging out of the Melting Pot, No. 34). It began with my own struggle over the immigration politics enacted by the Trump administration. Right after his election I’d visited San Antonio where I saw a remarkable exhibition of Spanish Colonial art. That one era of art history had always eluded me, it being so melodramatic and stylized. But an art historian explained the overt spirituality of suffering, so prevalent in the artwork of that time. Those people knew suffering, indeed bloody martyrdom, all too well and they turned to the crucified Christ for strength. They took the religion of their captors and reshaped it. And today some self-proclaimed Christians rationalize the treatment of refugees and immigrants at our southern border, despite the admonitions of Jesus himself to care for the stranger. The hollow of the avocado seed looked like a mandorla shape, befitting of the Virgin of Guadalupe. As some of us gringos might say, the Virgin of Guacamole…an insensitive joke at her expense, but not enough to affect her amazing legacy. Then a bag of corn chips featuring the Aztec god of maize. Next, a can of Texas Wolf Brand chili, with a stern Montezuma on its side, enacting his revenge. All the veggie fixings for Frito Pie are ready to go. I found a vintage paper bag from the Piggly Wiggly grocery store. Having worked for the H.E. Butt Foundation, I knew the bad joke of Butt acquiring Piggly Wiggly, and for a while dubbed itself Piggly Wiggly Butt. So, the makings of Frito Pie have just arrived from the store, tomatoes and peppers are ready to be chopped, a purple onion to be peeled, lemons and limes to be squeezed. Somebody has already spilled the chips. Not the usual set up for fine dining, but bring on the queso!