It takes about 2,500 bugs to produce one ounce of
cochineal extract, used in ice creams, yogurts, candy, beverages and other foods.
Installation view, Lucy Dodd, «Gates to the Mermaid's Den», 2016, Squid ink, charcoal, iron glimmer, hematite, spirulina, graphite, yerbe mate, chamomile, iron oxide, terra, sand, scoby,
cochineal, sumac
extract, tempera and mixed pigments on canvas, 120 x 240 inches, 304.8 x 609.6 cm