Land Art Week: Cochineal Ink Workshop with Kimball Arts

Attend an art-making workshop with Porfirio Gutiérrez at the Kimball Arts Center! The Kimball Arts Center invites Land Art Week visitors to learn the art of mark-making in a Cochineal Ink Workshop led by Porfirio Gutiérrez.

Porfirio Gutiérrez is a Zapotec American textile artist based in Ventura, California. He uses traditional Zapotec technology of dyes and materials and redefines Zapotec weaving language to create works that communicate contemporary experiences and the complexity of the Americas today.

Mark-making is a fundamental artistic practice through which materials become gesture, image, and expression. In this workshop, participants will collectively prepare a natural ink from cochineal before using it to create original compositions on textile. Together, the group will explore how a single material can produce a range of colors through changes in chemistry, concentration, and application.

Rather than focusing on traditional dyeing techniques, the workshop investigates pigment as a contemporary artistic medium—one that carries memory, material knowledge, and history. Participants will explore the visual and material qualities of cochineal ink while considering the relationship between material, process, and mark-making.

Gutiérrez’s work will be on view in the exhibition that opens at the Kimball on September 25.

This event takes place at the Kimball Arts Center, 1251 Kearns Blvd, Park City, UT 84060.

Photo of Porfirio Gutiérrez. Photo credit Joe Coca, courtesy of the artist and Kimball Arts Center.