Eduardo Rincón

Amate Installation, 2001
7 wood boxes each 9 3/4" x 7 1/4" x 4 3/4"
wood, petri dishes, cotton, amate seeds (7 species), latex hose, and lab solid extractors
Courtesy of the artist

Eduardo Rincón brings seven species of the amate tree to Wave Hill in an installation that explores the history, ecology and luminescent attraction of this endangered tree. Once prolific throughout the hillsides of Morelos, Mexico, the amate was used for centuries by villagers to make paper. In fact, 46,000 rolls of paper were the annual tribute paid by Tlahuica villages to the Aztecs. Part of the genus Ficus, the amate tree is cherished for its beauty and grandeur, as well as for its fundamental role in the ecosystem. The fruit, which requires pollination by very small wasps, provides nourishment for thousands of other species. In this installation, Rincón propagates seeds that he collected in 147 petri dishes that are arranged in lines. Each line is connected with rubber tubes to a box with a test tube containing water. The species name is etched on the front of each glass box. Connected to each other through rubber tubes, the various species share a light and water source located in the window. Rincón combines art-making with research into the medicinal use of plants, the healing energy of seeds, and the propagation of endangered plants.

Rincón has had solo exhibitions at the Casa Lamm in Mexico City, Mexico in 2000; Centro Morelense de las Artes (CMA) in Cuernavaca, Mexico in 1999; the Tepoztlans Museum (2001);  and most recently, Lucem (2001) at the Galeria Mexicana de Diseño in Mexico City. He has also had group shows, including the Fundación Carmen in Mexico (2000) and the CMA (1999). In 2000 Rincón participated in a Boréal Art/Nature residency through the Conseil des Arts et des lettres du Quebéc and Canadian Council for the Arts in Quebéc, Canada and also received an artist production fund from FONCA in Morelos, Mexico. Rincón attended the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, where he received a Bachelor of Biology.