From the Pantry to the Studio: Uses of Food in Art and Conservation

People throughout the ages have used edible materials and associated inedible parts to make art and preserve it both in visible and tasty forms as well as in less apparent ways.Sugar, for instance, has been sculpted into centerpieces for wealthy European patrons’ tables and into “calaveras de azúcar” for Mexico’s Day of the Dead; used as a resist in etching by the likes of Picasso; and deployed by conservators in the treatment of waterlogged wooden artifacts. Egg yolks can serve as binder in tempera painting; their albumen whipped into glare for medieval illuminated manuscripts or coated on the photographic paper of albumen prints; their shells decorated for over 30,000 years or broken and collaged as “tesserae” into mosaics. Algae, fish, garlic, gums, potato, salts, soy and a pantry-full of other ingredients make appearances in artistic production and conservation in fascinating ways.

Artists and historians, conservators, scientists and researchers from allied fields have been exploring a smorgasbord of such materials across time, cultures, and mediums from different perspectives. We invite you to the table for a session in which we will consider the properties, histories, production, and myriad uses of food stuffs in art and art preservation. This may afford opportunities to reflect on the parallels between cooking and crafting; engage with social issues around food production, access, consumption, and sustainability; consider conservation issues arising from experimental uses of food in art; and possibly test (and taste?!) some recipes!