Sensory Consumptions: A Metaphorical Feast

In Sensory Consumptions, five contemporary Southeast Asian artists infuse food metaphors into their practice. Beyond perceptions of taste, smell, sight, touch and sound, food is experienced as an evocative memory, a site for anxiety, and a basis for socio-cultural, ritualistic identity.

Edmund Kerk (b.1997), conveys his philosophy and ideologies through a multidisciplinary approach by exploring the modern world’s intimacies, contemplating the complexities of the human. condition. The combination of painting and mukbang (South Korean “eating broadcast”) style video, triggers visual and imagined auditory stimuli.

Ha Chau Bao Nhi (b.1995), is a multimedia artist focusing on exploring the spiritual beliefs of Vietnamese people and East Asian philosophies. In The Offering, her wax sculptures form an interactive sensory installation inspired by the traditional Vietnamese ritual of offering food to honour and appease the roaming spirits during the Hungry Ghost Festival.

Lizzie Wee’s practice investigates notions of identity and belonging; through an examination of archetypal female roles found in Southeast Asian pop culture and visual media. In the video 宝BAE, intricate wordplay and repetition of phrases such as “bao bei”, are interspersed with anecdotes of past romantic relationships and imagery of Wee eating a steamed bun.

Nazerul Khairy Ben-Dzulkefli, is a Malay migrant based in Perth who works with clay to preserve family memories and share personal stories. When Can We Eat Together Again incorporates anecdotal accounts of halal eating with ceramic crockery and utensils. He explores the dynamics of navigating Halal eating within inclusive and social contexts.

Subashri Sankarasubramanian (b.1998), is an artist, writer and art therapist who mostly works with food and food materials to create ephemeral sculptures and installations. Eat My Smelly Flower is a photographic documentation of hyperrealistic ‘Orchids’, made of dried onion petals stuck onto a foraged stem, paradoxically capturing the likeness of lifeless onion peels and beautiful blooms.