Field of Corn

“Field of corn” enters media res into the village of Santa Clara del Cobre shortly after the death of the village elder, patriarch, and renowned coppersmith, Maestro Pérez Ornelas, my primary mentor-teacher. I bring the reader into the ecological and performative landscape of Santa Clara to meet the artisans whose stories form the narrative backbone of this anthropological study of making and artisan agency. The narration weaves back and forth, from past to present, like a shuttle in the threads of the loom. It is a liminal threshold time of separation, loss, rupture, crisis, and departure. You enter the family home at the close of the novena, the nine days of mourning following Maestro Jesús’ passing and the burial of the body. It is shortly before the second, symbolic burial of his ash-cross, in accordance with traditional Catholic observance. You meet the major members of the family and community and witness the village rituals and activities marking a significant generational transition. In this chapter you become witness to the performances of death and cultivation and enter in-between and betwixt, into the preliminary presence of absence.