2026

GLOBAL WARMING IS REAL

RESILIENCE

EXHIBITION

VICTORIA DENEROFF

VICTORIA DENEROFF

(Santa Fe, NM)

Acequia Madre

encaustic mixed media on plastic and metallic paper, as well as rag paper, 24 x 16 inches, framed: 25 x 17 inches

$542 + $37.94  tax + $65 shipping fee  =

$644.94 Total Price

Artist Statement:

Acequia is a ditch, an adaptation for irrigating arid lands, used by Arabs in Spain, brought to New Mexico by Spanish settlers, co-evolving with indigenous agriculture in New Mexico. Acequias require loving attention and care. They waste less water than concrete ditches, become mini-ecosystems, and contribute to the health of the land.

People think Santa Fe has always been barren desert. Not the case. The former lush wetland ecosystem was destroyed by overgrazing and urban development. Once desertification begins, it’s hard to reverse. Acequias are part of a solution.

In Santa Fe, acequias have been paved over. The acequia madre (mother ditch), once the main source for agriculture, brought water from the mountains. Because of drought, caused by global warming, it’s dry now. It’s supposed to run alongside Acequia Madre Street on Mondays, but on my pilgrimages I’ve never seen water.

Some New Mexicans are preserving and restoring acequias as a resilient way to bring water to our dry land. I recently visited Santo Domingo Pueblo, and was looking for our host. She’s over by the ditch, someone said. A working acequia. A beautiful muddy ditch.

About technique: Struggling with how to convey my feelings about acequias, the dark water that brings life, I happened to apply wax to a sheet of industrial-looking metallic paper with an overlay of plastic wavy lines. A humorous, consciously ironic experiment to see if wax would even stick to it. It looked like a representation of water. Fun itself is an act of resilience.

Click here to return to the Global Warming Exhibit main page.