Foodworks

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‘Aftermath’

Jam on furniture, crockery and floor

The installation shows a dinner once set for two in a clean pristine white environment. The crockery and objects on the table have been knocked over. Objects are embedded and suffocated under a deep red sticky substance. It is dripping onto the fluffy, expensive cream carpet. The whole scene is devoured in the sticky substance and everything is ruined. Flies hover around giving it an ominous mood. The scene is visually graphic, bloody; an aftermath of a massacre. The congealed medium looks like blood. However, the red substance is jam. The subversion of the violence connotations are removed once the audience smells the sweet, tasty aroma of a delicious preserve, realising that no violent attack has taken place.

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‘Confection’

Photographs on canvas and smeared chocolate

The deceptively simple aesthetics and presentation of ‘Confection’ seeks out the viewer and entices her or him with an intangible seduction through the use of the chocolate smeared over its surfaces. The piece could be seen to fetishise the subject along both gender and racial lines. The purity of the brown skin and the sensuous, unthreatening poses encourage voyeurism, yet the lack of definition and focus offer a barrier to the voyeur’s domination: the subject refuses to yield to the viewer’s categorisation or classification. Herein lies the subject’s power. The eyes look away from the gaze, but in doing so they represent a refusal to let the subject be knowable, rather than fear, nervousness or submission. What is she thinking or feeling? Ecstasy? Sorrow? Reflection? Some form of introvert and self-aware pleasure, certainly. She is both seduced and seducer as she draws us in to interpret or guess at reasons for her pleasure, unaware of being watched yet self-conscious in her passive seduction. The subject seduces the viewer in offering an image of seduction.

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‘Smeared’

Jam on body smeared

Jam is used to convey a visceral element and is smeared over the body to depict an invasion of modesty but also an indulgence of sexuality.   

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‘Spiced’

Spices and foodstuffs on canvas

Use of non traditional materials upon surfaces allures the audience in through the sense of smell. The paintings are hidden and are found by following the rich and pungent smell of spices to be then confronted with three large colourful, vibrant pieces. The work is a comment on bicultural elements co-existing. The medium of spice is used as symbolism of Eastern cultures fused into Western traditions. The exposure of an ancient medium being used indicates Western influence upon Eastern culture, thus being a confrontation of identity. The scribe etched into the surface indicates a religious element.

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‘Chocolate Triptych’

Chocolate and foodstuffs

The paintings incorporate the challenge of using foodstuffs as an alternative material. The processes and application adopt cooking techniques such as mixing, melting, sprinkling and blending. The work has a physical approach in its application and the unpredictable combination of materials determines its outcomes. As the paintings live the appearance becomes moldy thus concerning themes of decay and deterioration.

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‘Sweet House’

Confectionary

Outside a very ornate, elaborately decorated house is made from nothing but confectionary. The size is that of a dolls house. It has a protective quality as it plays on the notion of temptation. It looks fantastically appealing, it smells sweet and the taste would be delightful if it was allowed. It omits pain and anxiety to the audience as it deteriorates and decomposes, devoured by creatures, birds and eroded by the climate. The use of edible material is a metaphor for the deterioration of our physical being.