Daguerreotype Still Life – Salt & Vinegar Sweet Potato Fries
Unknown, Still Life with Pumpkin, Book, and Sweet Potato (c.1855)daguerreotype with applied colouring, 6.3 x 5.1 cm, Smithsonian American Art Museum The still life has had an important role within the history of photography since the inception of the medium in the mid-19th century. As the technology advanced, still life compositions were the simplest works...
Wayne Thiebaud – Pop Art Cakes
The frosting upon Wayne Thiebaud’s 1963 painting, Cakes, is so thickly applied that I am often tempted to reach out, run my finger along one of the perfect cake-tops to taste the sugary dessert. Thiebaud cleverly uses a thick application of paint to mimic the look and texture of frosting, highlighting the idea of ‘object...
Gustavo Montoya – Eggs Galette à la Mexicana
The flavours of this traditionally haphazard French dessert are inspired by the Mexican classic, huevos rancheros. Traditionally, the eggs are cracked into a bubbling mixture of tomato, chilli and pepper and cooked until soft. The egg and tomatoes are then scooped into a tortilla and eaten like a burrito with a bit of cheese. In...
Khoo Kongsi Stone Carving – Murtabak
From fried oysters to cendol, I consumed a number of delectables while travelling in Malaysia in late October. Our restaurants ranged from street food in Penang to a private beach BBQ on Redang Island. Malaysian food is an exciting blend of Indian, Chinese and Malay cuisines with regional curries and fried noodle courses. I tried...
Raphaelle Peale – Steak Salad in a Lettuce Leaf with Fresh Herbs
Raphaelle Peale, Still Life with Steak (c.1817)oil on panel, 33.97 x 49.53 cm, Munson Williams Proctor Museum of Art Visual characteristics of the slab of raw beef in Raphaelle Peale’s Still Life with Steak (c.1817) are repeated within other elements of the composition. The curve of the cabbage is mimicked by the curve of the...
Colour Red – Hung Liu – Rhubarb Tart
Hung Liu’s artistic production is a process of recollection – a symbolic excavation. Having weathered the re-education of artists vis-a-vis Mao’s Cultural Revolution and immigration to the U.S. in 1984, Hung Liu’s influences are richly transcultural. She is known as one of the very first Chinese artists to study within the U.S. and has since...
Colour Red – Claude Monet – Steak Tartare
In the mid-16th century, Spain began importing a vibrant red pigment from the New World that was so highly sought after that the source was held as a national secret. The dye was extracted from the blood of a female cochineal, a wingless insect that lives upon the leaves of the prickly pear. The dye...