There were so many local and global food issues I wanted to explore during _gaia’s Wonder Women 9: Superfood residency. In order to branch out into those larger global issues, I began by asking questions about my own food relationship and diet: “What are my strongest memories connected to food?”, “What are food traditions and practices in my woman-centered family?” “What does my cultural diet consist of?” I reflected on these food related memories, and themes around my Luso-American cultural traditions and practices. Then I questioned the traditions and practices I still hold on to (and why) and those I have let go of. Themes around love, desire, shame, guilt, silence, religion, womanhood and sexuality began to surface in my self-exploration of food. This internal dialogue gave birth to the “Do You Eat The Head?” wood cutting board series. These memories and untold memories are now voiced as self-portraits using the photo transfer process on cutting boards. The artwork expresses and represents deconstructed food traditions, rituals, practices, and social etiquette (or not), through a feminine lens. This series critically looks at the role of food in my life and the lives of Portuguese-American women in my community.
I want to thank @ddorrrissss and @meredithwgoncalves for inspiring me to go deeper with my work. I also want to thank all the women artists who participated in _gaia’s Wonder Women 9: Superfood residency. All their weekly feedback helped support my creative vision and these cutting boards were born as a result of the residency.
Last Touches. Lighting the work.
Easter Sunday many of us spent most of the day at Gallery Aferro installing our work. It was really magical to see everything come alive on the walls as we worked as a team to install the artwork we have been talking about for we
