Artist Statement
The fastest way to man’s heart is through his stomach
We are what we eat
Food is life itself. For example, yeast, rice, milk, honey and grains, because they have been used for millennia, carry a great amount of symbolic weight. It was the cultivation of grains that led to permanent settlement and the development of civilizations around the world. Basic sustenance, second only to air as a human need, makes a primal, familiar and very powerful medium to work with. Food, and our complex relationship with it, helps explain human happiness and sorrow, love, hate, heaven and hell.
Experimentation with historic staple foods, often in combination with my own (female) body, builds a new dimension – understanding through taste. To experience an art piece through taste is a two-pronged experience. The viewer has to make a simple decision – to eat it or not. Because it is such a primal question the circumstances around the food in question become loud and clear. Is it socially acceptable to eat toast bread made with vaginal yeast? Is it natural? How about a cup of hot milk and honey made with the artist’s feet? Is it kinky? Are feet really dirty? Why does it make such a difference when it comes to the human body? From a young age we are trained to disconnect our minds from our bodies. For what reason?
It is these and other phenomena about human society that I try to expose and learn about by feeding the viewer. By sharing my food with somebody I share my heart and thoughts and invite the viewer to have a conversation on a genuinely intimate level. Essence meets essence. The participants begin to understand me and I them. Once again, food is the medium.
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