 My name is Virginia San Fratello. I'm a partner in the 3D printing make tank emerging objects. And we printed several vessels for the exhibit using Cochinio. At Emerging Objects, we develop different materials for 3D printing. And we historically have worked with geological materials like clays, cement, and agricultural materials, such as sawdust and chardonnay grape skins. We try to bring materiality to the forefront of the design of our objects. And we want to tell a story about the provenance of that material, so where it comes from and how it gives an object, I think, meaning for the 21st century. So we're bringing together very traditional materials, especially in the case of Cochinio materials that have been around for a very long time. But we're taking that to the other end of the technological spectrum by using it through the lens of 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Thinking about how to 3D print with Cochinio is a completely new experiment and process for us. We started by using the powdered Cochinio, so it had already been, the color had already been extracted from the insect. And we first experimented by actually mixing it with a clay body. And we put it in an air-dry clay body because we knew if we used a clay body that would be fired, of course, it would burn out. And we made some loopy vessels, kind of like the ones you see here with the Cochinio and the air-dry clay, which were interesting, but we had a hard time controlling the color of the Cochinio. It always turned to a very, very dark purple. And I think we were looking for something much more vibrant and red as part of the outcome. In subsequent experiments, we 3D printed with nylon on top of a Mycaceous clay bottom. And we did that because the Mycaceous clay is another traditional material that came from the same geological region as the insect itself. We also experimented with putting the Cochinio powder, or extract, in a resin bath. And in the particular printer that we were using, you can use a clear resin or a white resin. And we were able to mix the Cochinio extract with it in order to get varying degrees of pink to red. And this liquid vat of red resin would solidify through the use of light. So there are lasers in the printer that solidify the resin. So for me, that was exciting because it wasn't a process of dyeing or using the Cochinio at the end, but it was really integral. And those pieces are solid and red all the way through because the Cochinio was used throughout the printing process itself. The forms of the vessels in the exhibit are inspired by traditional Cochinio extraction processes. So we saw some drawings or plates that illustrated the process of harvesting the Cochinio, collecting the insects and baskets, and then those baskets being deposited into a pot that had boiling water as a way of getting the color out of the insect. And so the vessels that we made are inspired by the basket and the most likely ceramic or metal pot that held the boiling water. Some of the motifs on the basket-like surfaces actually are inspired by damask wallpaper. We found this very beautiful sample of a piece of tapestry from Italy that was made or colored using Cochinio. So we were interested in not only the historic traditions that you might find in the production of Cochinio in Central and South America, but also how it migrated to Europe and how the dye was used completely differently there. One of the most exciting outcomes of working with the Cochinio in 3D printing for me was realizing that I didn't only have to rely on the material itself in the printer, but I could start to add other materials to that to form new 3D printed composites. And I think that's opened the door to think about how we could add other natural materials that might traditionally be used as dyes into the 3D printing process. And I expect there will probably be many more material experiments that come out of this.