NANCY MACKO: Honey Teachings

My newest body of work, Honey Teachings, draws on the characteristics of CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder) in honeybees as a metaphor for women’s roles in our culture and the need for a greater feminine presence and power in our future. I think this work responds especially to the topical area of food, agribusiness and sustainability. These images are a small sample of the almost 100 works that will eventually comprise this piece.  As a large scale mixed media piece it includes digital prints of constructed images and/or video stills, vinyl decal phrases, encaustic, collage, hand stamping, linocut and/or assemblage. Each one of these is affixed to a hexagonal wooden panel that is 11.5” in diameter. The panels are made from flowering trees around the world and include wenge, cumal, yellow heart and bird's eye maple. The full piece can be installed site specifically in that it can conform to various wall and room configurations.

Background: The collective behavior of the bees is fundamental to our survival.  Bees pollinate a total of one third of the world's food supply by gathering pollen from the blooms of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and many other food crops.  In the last two years Colony Collapse Disorder, or CCD, has drastically affected the national honeybee community, leaving thousands of hives unattended and abandoned by the adult female worker bees.  Pesticides and viruses as well as exhausting the bees by trucking them thousands of miles to pollinate the acres and acres farmed by multi-million dollar agri-businesses are among a number of factors being blamed. CCD is a symptom rather than a pathology. Hierarchical institutions and traditions that favor profit and greed are now revealing just how limited they are as systems for a truly “brighter” tomorrow. The colony collapse of the bees is merely one example. Something is attacking the collective needs of our cultural hive both literally and metaphorically and we need to turn this around before it is too late.

The organization and specialization within the bee colony resonates with the bee priestess mythology I have imagined and has a biological corollary in the human brain that rewards collective behavior.  In the last decade neuroscience has advanced the idea that human beings, and women in particular, are wired to collaborate and cooperate.  When given tasks that allow one individual to advance towards a goal through a collaborative effort, the brain responds by activating what are known as reward centers, producing pleasure in response to working together.  Like social insects whose specialized instincts fulfill the collective needs of the hive, the bee priestesses work together to honor the wisdom and knowledge of the ancient past bringing it forward to help shape our future in a more positive and productive manner.