Veronica Islas
“What is your favorite artwork?”
Curatorial Rationale
This exhibition is showcasing cultural foods. Even using similar ingredients to their neighbors, people have made a variety of different foods that represent their people. The wide variations inspire me to explore these foods' history and encapsulate them in art that will not rot away the way they do. I hope to present different cultures' cuisines both well-known and unknown, and to allow audiences to take interest in various communities.
While contemplating a way to recreate dishes, the greatest inspiration for me was that of Anna Barlow and Jae Yong Kim. Both are ceramic artists who create food sculptures. Anna Barlow specifically inspired my clay works and the way she portrays food by using very round and detailed shapes. In instances such as my Kopytka, the rounded edges of potato dumplings were inspired by her simple shaped details.
In regards to Jae Yong Kim, the bright colors used in most of his artworks were a technique implemented in a majority of my works. Further, his colors are distinct from one another and complement each other rather than a complete blending of the colors. In my work Pan Dulce, this was the most evident as the multiple shades of pink and yellow are not blended, but rather are sat side-by-side to add interest to the piece.
Despite my inspirations being ceramic sculptures, I aimed to portray food in a large variety of mediums. Each medium has different qualities that create a unique feeling to the subject being presented. For example, my work Crostata was done in embroidery as the idea of a baked tart gives the feeling of homeliness and I feel that mediums such as embroidery and quilting can reproduce that feeling well.
The theme resonating throughout my work is food from various cultures. During my life, many dishes from my culture hold sentimental value for me. Pozole, for example, reminds me of cold winters in my grandparent's house as my cousins and I ran around playing together. This experience of having that special food that brings you back to childhood cultivated my inspiration to create these artworks.
When arranging my artwork, I aimed for a balance between both sides, with the centerpiece being my Pan Dulce, sculptures. I also aimed to spread out both well-known and obscure dishes throughout so that the audience has a blend of both new and familiar images. By having a mix of the unfamiliar and familiar, I hope that the audience can have a more comfortable feeling with only a moment of confusion. I also attempted to portray them in a scattered arrangement to evoke a child-like or free viewing experience. This goes back to my personal experience of many foods invoking a memory from childhood and I wanted to put an element of that in my art.
Veronica’s Art Work
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Cake
Digital in Clip Studio Paint
5999 pixels x 5483 pixels
The artwork displayed is a digital painting of a cake, lightly inspired by wedding cakes. Wedding cakes tend to be multi layered and decorated with items such as flowers. The art style is inspired by children’s books that tend to not use heavy lineart and instead use color and simple shapes to add depth. There is also highlight colors of blue and a brighter orange in order to add highlights and similar colorings to the children’s books.
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Gochisou
Linoleum and ink
13.97cm x 21.59cm
This artwork was inspired by Japanese product ads and gochisou onigiri, a trend of adding a decorative look to traditional onigiri. The different fronts on the top of the bottom of the work are similar to Japanese ads that often vary in font and text size in order to catch the eye. Gochisou onigiri comes in different looks depending on the chef, here there are only two of many variants.
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Original
Alcohol/paint marker on paper
30.38cm x 35.56cm
My intention for this work was to do something interesting with food. The Americas are full of foods that are popular all over the world and I was extremely inspired by Arcimboldo’s work. This woman is made up of foods that originated from the Americas before European influences came. The signature cacao plant and the glass gem corn are signatures of the Americas and are meant to stand out in this piece to convey the woman’s native origins.
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Mooncake
Acrylic and paint marker on canvas
60.96cm x 60.96cm
The intention of this artwork was to showcase mooncakes differently from my typical style. Instead of simply depicting the food on a plate, I wanted to showcase it in a menu-style display. What makes mooncakes good is not only the ingredients used but its message and display. The designs and significance of it are important to Chinese culture, and so I wanted to display them in a beautiful way that they deserve.
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Crostata
Embroidery on canvas
8.89cm x 8.89cm
The intention of this artwork was to showcase the Italian food crostata. The woven pattern of the pie reminded me of the woven pattern embroidered works exhibit and so I wanted to use this medium for it. The different colors of the crust highlight the different cross sections and create more contrast in the piece with the red of the raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry mix.
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Dried Cod
Digital on Clip Studio Paint
12333 pixels x 10333 pixels
This artwork was meant to showcase a food that is typically unheard of. Greenlandic natives are often not talked about, in fact, many people don’t think about Greenland or its sister Iceland, so I just wanted to show a small piece of a vibrant culture that is often overlooked. With the freezing temperatures, I wanted to showcase the unique food preparation of freeze-drying meats and salts that are found in Greenland.
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Pan Dulce
Acrylic on clay
11.5cm x 11.5cm x 5.5cm (left), 19cm x 9cm x 20.32cm (right)
My intention for this work was to create an undecaying cultural food in clay. Food is one of the few things that humans can all relate to. Everyone needs to eat, and so generations of people have created dishes and eating mannerisms that reflect their culture and resources around them. Pan dulce, is a mix of French baking design, Spanish introduction of sugar, and Native American flair that have come together to create a sweet food that many Latin Americans have cultural pride towards.
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Kopytka
Acrylic on canvas
24.17 cm x 29.17 cm
My intention for this artwork was to represent the Polish food Kopytka. I wanted to not only showcase the food but also show the cultural clothing of the people who have created this dish. The traditional dress of Greenland where this dish originates is made of animal furs and colored silk.
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Ramen
Pencil, colored pencil, pen, and marker on paper
21.6 cm x 27.9 cm
This artwork was inspired by ramen houses and the Japanese dish ramen. I wanted to explore pen and pencil mediums as a majority of my other artworks are paintings and digital art. I focused on using limited coloring as an experimental practice.