Food and sex. Let’s face it, our American culture is pretty much obsessed with two things. Yet we often want to deny how much each matters to us. We are somehow above such base desires. In her work, Asian American artist Kira Nam Greene explores the dichotomy in a fascination of the objectification of women by portraying them as highly styled, delectable food.
A self confessed food lover, cuisine has often been the focus of Greene’s work, as she combines Eastern motifs and symbols with ubiquitously American foods like Skippy Peanut Butter and a stack of pancakes. In thinking of the food as shorthand for the female body, I began to notice the treatment of the food in composition– elevated on a pedestal, as an award, the object of leering attentions.
Kind of makes you rethink that phrase, “you are what you eat”, doesn’t it?
Hiya, Artsies! Artist Candice Smith Corby recently took a group of students on a little artsy tour of Venice and is here to share her experience with you! I’ll be checking in and letting you know what’s been happening in my world soon, I promise. Without further adieu, here’s Candice!
I was delighted when asked to do a guest post for the Artsy Abroad column!
Recently, my colleague, Bill Pettit, and I led a cultural and artistic tour in Venice, Italy. We’ve been partnering up over the last couple of years through our arts collective, The Bottega, to offer fresco painting in Italy for students, as well as collaborate on projects that revolve around our shared interest in pigment and material origins. With the sea being so influential, we decided that watercolor painting and the cuisine of the Veneto region would be ideal themes for our workshop in Venice. It was also a great opportunity for us to share what we love- art, travel and good food!
Venice or La Serenissima as it is lovingly known, is magical and undoubtedly one of the most serene cities in the world. There are no cars on the island and you quickly become accustomed to a more humane speed of life than we are normally used to. The pulse of the city, which actually feels much more like a large close-knit town, is dictated by your own heartbeat. Everyone walks, especially Venetians, and even though the Grande Canal is a highway of motorized boat traffic, the hundreds of small interlacing canals are quiet and much less travelled. The combination of silent footsteps, a slower pace, and an ancient city plan with its small-scale architecture, makes it easy to suspend time.
In addition to sampling the local flavor of Venetian dishes and expressing a particular moment through paint, we also wanted to offer an experience beyond a typical tourist’s visit to Venice. Piazza San Marco was certainly on our list but the surprises found around an empty corner or the restaurant where all the gondoliers seemed to be having lunch were our favorite finds.
We avoided the crowds and chose canals with their small bridges to sit and paint the light as it changed across the water’s surface.
The act of observing with all of your senses while you are painting alfresco can whet your appetite and we enjoyed finding a nearby bàcari for cicchetti and a Spritz to rejuvenate ourselves. [A bàcari is a small wine bar to have cicchetti, which are little plates of yummy food. A typical drink is the Venetian Spritz- made with prosecco and a splash of Aperol.]
Our workshop also allowed us to share our personal research and experiments on historical pigments, which often have direct links to ingredients in the kitchen; such as the way chicken bones can be fire roasted and ground to make a bone white pigment. With the sea nearby, we chose to show how the ink sac from a cuttlefish (or seppia in Italian) has been used for Sepia ink for hundreds of years and is also commonly used as a food colorant. We spent the morning visiting and painting at the famous Rialto markets where we also gathered ingredients for a communal dinner. Later that night, Bill and I made our guests various dishes such as fried anchovies and sardines, octopus salad, and of course Risotto al Nero di Seppia.
In addition, artist Luca de Gaetano who teaches at Boston University’s Venice studio arts program graciously invited us to spend an afternoon talking about natural pigments including cochineal, verdigris, and saffron, while doing an egg tempera demonstration.
Our last day was spent visiting a couple of the other islands in the lagoon. Although we ended with Murano, famous for its glass-blowing factories, we began on quiet Torcello. The original inhabitants of Venice settled here and you will find their marvelous Cathedral of Santa Maria Assunta preserved there. It dates from the 6th century with glorious 9th century mosaics that feel oddly medieval and contemporary at the same time. As we all painted in the courtyard, each of us immersed in the pleasure of looking, we were acutely aware of the layered centuries that surrounded us.
Perhaps because it was our final day together, or because the sunlight was perfectly warm, and perhaps because we all realized how lucky we were, this was the highlight of our tour. To quote one of our participants–
“I see it as a movie, with disparate characters, a lot of philosophy, wit and humor,…culminating in Torcello, where the meaning of life, destiny, faith, and human interaction at its best was evident in our conversation, silent and vocal communication. What a gift!”
While next year the world famous Biennale will be part of our itinerary, we’ll continue to take you off the beaten track, letting the magic of Venice slow you down to paint a sunrise over the lagoon, listen to un-ending church bells, and discover your own newfound delicacy from the sea.
Thank you so much, Candice for sharing your Venetian experience! I don’t know about you, Artsies, but I’m ready to book my 2015 trip this minute! For more information on The Bottega and next year’s trip, check out The Bottega website and look for updates on their Facebook page.
When I gaze at the work of February’s Featured ArtistJenny Brown, which I’ve been doing a lot this month, it makes me long for the sea. These creatures of the deep and the shallows that she creates out of vintage ephemera reminds me just how landlocked we are here in Idaho. But this Sunday, we set off for our next destination, Eureka, California!
Between the anticipation of the sea air and Jenny’s work, I’m craving something salty and briny and these Soy Citrus Scallops with Soba Noodles are sure to satisfy my longing.
Those little tentacle-y shapes show up in lots of Jenny’s work and remind me so much of noodles– which I never need an excuse to consume! This recipe takes advantage of fresh scallops and snow peas to create a perfect mix of flavors and textures. The ideal pairing. All that would make it better is a glass of wine and the smell of the salt air. Soon, Artsy. Soon!
To see more of Jenny’s work, head over to her website and devour every last delicious morsel! The piece above and others can be purchased from Enormous Tiny Art and seen in person at the ETA show at Nahcotta in Portsmouth, NH.
You know one thing I miss about working in an office? Cake days. Birthdays, new babies, going aways, work anniversaries– any excuse to have an afternoon cake break in the lunch room. I was always amazed by how having a little treat in the middle of the day made the work day seem just a bit special. I can almost taste these painted treats by Kentucky artist Lori Larusso.
It’s interesting how important food is, the preparing of it, the gathering, the sharing and consuming, to so many cultures, including our own. How baking cookies for someone is a warm and welcome way to say thank you and how we wouldn’t dream of having a celebration without food! Why do you think that is? Perhaps because our need to eat is so universal? Because we all need and crave food, it’s the perfect ice breaker and status leveler. Maybe that cupcake isn’t on our diet, but the child we share it with will remember the moment always.
I don’t know about you, but one of my favorite things about this time of year is the food! Putting diets aside, we allow ourselves to focus on the inherent feast for the senses that delicious food can bring. Nothing beats the scent of freshly baked bread wafting through a home, am I right?? This season is about indulgence and much of it of the decadent sweet kind. In her Bakery series, artist Heather McCaw Kerley focuses her attention on those baked objects of desire.
Isolating these treats, each a monument to delightful indulgence. “I’ll have just one“, these seem to be saying. And when we taste the sweetness of icing on our tongues, a wave of satisfaction washes over. We know we can’t make a steady diet of doughnuts and cupcakes, but oh, if only we could! How sweet life would be. Maybe. Or perhaps, if we were to indulge all the time, special treats would lose their luster. We would no longer savor them slowly, but devour them without truly tasting their deliciousness. I think the same can be said of events like holidays, if we were celebrating this way every day, the shine would soon grow weary. But its the anticipation, the build up, the focus of intensity that makes these days so special. Let’s savor them like the delectable cupcakes they are.
With every new place, we make out a list of our “must sees” while we are there and this weekend, the sun finally came out, so we took full advantage and happily crossed a few items off our list! One of our favorite “perfect day” activities is to do a little wine tasting. So we headed down to the Williamette Valley in Oregon to enjoy some Fall color and hit a few vineyards. You might remember we did a little wine tasting while we were in Southern California and while a day spent tasting wine is never a bad thing, we did find the SoCal style, with cavernous, crowded tasting rooms and glamorous, perfect people flitting about a bit off putting. We like a quieter, cozy atmosphere, one where the winemaker himself might proudly take you on a tour of his vineyard, where staff take the time to chat and get to know you. Maybe we’re a bit biased towards the NW, but there is just something about the wine country atmosphere up here that just feels more inviting.
So we spent a beautiful, cloudless day exploring the Oregon countryside and finished the day with a quick detour into Portland for dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant, Pok Pok. I swear, Mr. F fantasizes about the Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings. This is one place where, though the atmosphere is definitely NW cool, it is all about the food. They could serve their yummies out of a brown paper bag on a street corner and we would still line up to eat it.
So many of our Sundays these days seem to be spent catching up and running errands, and we got a bit of that in, but took the afternoon to make the drive over to the coast, hoping to catch one of our former landlords at their coffee shop, Tinderbox Coffee Roasters in Westport. Have you ever run across people who were just instant friends? Tara & Nick, the owners of Tinderbox, rented their house to us a few years ago, my first time living in the Northwest and being away from Florida. Friendly, warm, genuine people that we took an instant liking to. The kind of people who get it. And it shows in the coffee they brew and the atmosphere they’ve created at Tinderbox. Unpretentious, cozy and full of life, just like them. If you find yourself in Westport, or passing through Aberdeen/Hoquiam ( where they have a drive-thru stand ), make sure you stop and get a cup of java. It will warm you inside and out.
I’m a bit of a homebody, I admit. But am finding I’m a little more stir crazy than normal lately. I blame working from home. And the home health job which necessitates Mr. F to always have the car during the week. So when asked what I wanted to do this weekend, I replied, “Anything, as long as it gets me out of the house!”.
While we were in Coeur d’Alene last summer, we loved exploring all the Rails to Trails bike trails. So we were excited to find there were a few decently long trails within an easy driving distance. Despite the clouds, we set off on Saturday and did a quick little 17 mile ride. Not nearly as pretty as the trails around CdA, but the fresh air did my heart and mind lots of good. Still not wanting to be at home, we finally tried what looks like it might be the best place to eat in the tiny town of Shelton. A little barbecue and some fried green tomatoes are always a good idea for these Southern transplants! Oh and the awesome beer & drink selection didn’t hurt either. Shelton has redeemed itself.
On Sunday we decided to go over to Olympia to grab coffee and try to hunt down some duck for a recipe Mr. F was dying to try out. I love Olympia’s funky, grungy feel. It has a fantastic downtown filled with shops, galleries and eateries. Hope to go back for a day soon and give you a little artsy tour!
[ it was beginning to look like fall on the trail ]
This was our 3rd weekend in a row at home in Joshua Tree.. let’s just say we’re getting a bit stir crazy! Especially since we heard of a possible job assignment for Mr. F in an area we would really like to see and experience ( could possibly have more news on that front even today! *fingers crossed* ). So much of our weekend, in between Mr. F doing coursework, baking bread, making pasta, drinking pina coladas ( we like getting caught in the rain ), piles of laundry, Mr. F’s fourth turn at home brewing, and tending a delish Beef & Ale Stew for St. Patty’s, we talked and dreamed about what could be our next landing spot. All the while melting in the Southern California spring sun.
How about you, Artsies? Any daydreaming and plan-making happen in your world this weekend? Want to see more snaps from our artsy life? Follow me on Instagram!
Did you know that today, 3.14, is Pi Day? The happiest of all days? Get it? Pi/pie? I have a deep and abiding love for pie. Ask Mr. Forager. I’ll take pie ( fruit filled, please, preferably berry ) over cake any day of the week! And as you know, being artsy is a way of life as much as it is a type of person. And this artsy loves her pie. Especially this one from BHG made with fresh strawberries AND chocolate. If you love Christina Baker’s sweet painted confection, I bet you’ll love this pie, too. A little rich chocolate, fresh strawberries and a flaky crust perfectly mime Christina’s February painting filled with berry-hued pinks, creamy whites and fresh brights. I can almost taste them both..
Gotta go, I need some strawberries STAT.
art | February by Christina Baker, available at Found Gallery on Artsy Forager
You can check out February and more of Christina Baker’s candy-colored artwork in the City Mouse | Country Mouse show up in Found Gallery until March 28th. You can even buy that little sweet for yourself, which let’s face it will be much better on the waistline than confections of the pie variety. Aaaah, I’m always craving art, but now I’m craving pie, too! Happy Pi Day, Artsies!
Christina Baker image via the artist, pie image via Better Homes & Gardens website.
Mr. Forager and I are in the midst of taking a bit of a sabbatical from wandering hither and yon on our weekends. This was our second weekend in a row in which we just stayed put here in Joshua Tree. These quiet, slower weekends bring opportunities for slowing down and really engaging with each other and just enjoying the normality of routine that we really miss when we’re exploring and adventuring. These weekends are helping us enjoy our last two months here in Southern California. The Northwest has our heart, but when the light hits the mountains here, just before the sun begins to set, we are content with where we are in that fleeting moment. I hope you’ll forgive these more mundane installations of This Artsy Life. But sometimes, the slow down brings the rush around into focus, you know?
[ new mural in “downtown” Joshua Tree ]**
[ first bloom spotted on our Joshua Tree ]
[ subliminal messages from beer? ]
[ warm SoCal weather was perfect for grilling ]
[ Sunday bottling ]
I hope perhaps you enjoyed a “slowed down” weekend, too! I wish I could say some painting was done this weekend.. more on that in a new Finding My Own Artsy later this week.
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 40 [ Atmosphere is Almost Everything ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_1500.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 36 [ Salve for My Stir Crazy ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/IMG_1343.jpg)
![This Artsy Life: Weekend 9 [ Artsy & Mr. Forager Slow Down ]](https://artsyforager.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/TAL_Joshua-Tree-bloom.jpg)
