Saturday, August 1, 2009

Dying for a feed



Gina Matchitt's latest exhibition at the gallery Sweet'n'Sour includes some of her trademark techniques - componentry arranged in traditional Maori patterns - but also branches off in new directions.

Works like Fries Template and Cheese Royale take the shape of flattened fast food packages. Fries Template (pictured above) weaves together pasta labels and images of cherries, shell fish, and Maori potatoes using a template for a fries package as its title suggests.

It brings together these ingredients in a metaphor for cooking itself. But the overall impression is of a shroud - a reminder of the double-edged sword that eating has become.

Cheese Royale on the other hand (pictured below) engages with magazine food imagery. There's fancy French cheeses and salami and terrines woven together with images of the boil-up - not often seen in Vogue entertaining.