While reading Adam Gopnik’s New Yorker article on the future of desserts, I came across this quote from White House pastry chef Bill Yosses:
“‘Dessert is aspirational,’ Yosses said, laying out his philosophy. ‘It’s the one part of the meal you don’t have to eat. It’s the purest part of the meal: the art part. But it’s also the greediest part, the eat-it-in-a-closet part. We don’t have to have it, and we do. When I was a kid, I would stuff my face with eclairs. I still would, I guess...’ His voice trailed off.”
He succinctly touched upon everything wrong with indulgence - the unnecessary, greedy, and even shameful side. But we are left with him trailing off, still trying to justify his moment of pure enjoyment. I was surprised by how closely his thoughts on dessert matched my ambitions as an artist.
That moment, where logic is tossed aside for the sake of gratification, is the crux of my practice. I am trying to capture and distill it through sculpture, drawing and photography. I want humour and laughter, the kind that comes from the delight of knowing that you’ve had too much but you’re going to get away with it.
My "holy-trinity of want" consists of food, love, and sex. They all have the power to reach beyond reason and tug directly at the gut. Through my practice, I want to explore the funnier sides of desire. After all, comedy is a man who can't get what he wants*.
The donut (or “dessert vagina”) comfortably sits in the middle of all three wants. Each is dressed to the nines in sugary whites, deep chocolates, and every color that uses “hot” as a prefix. Its full of shameful temptation: so decadent that you can’t ask if you need it or want it. Instead, you must bashfully ask, “I want it, but do I deserve it?”
The sculptures contain fake donuts, icing, and sprinkles, which seem like they should only last for a moment in time but smell sweet to this day. These sugary goods are combined with everyday items, ranging from toys to plastics to furniture. I want the sculptures to be wanton and playful, with bodies that are strangely familiar.
My drawings are directly related to the sculptures, acting as more perfect versions of my objects. By making the forms intangible, they ultimately exist in the mind of the viewer; they become pure ideas, rather than experiences, of delight.
*Apologies to Buster Keaton and "comedy is a man in trouble".