Breakfast
Breakfast is a very special, celebrated, and important moment of the day in my life. My parents put a lot of emphasis on sharing breakfast together while we were growing up. I have carried the tradition of this important meal into my adult life, in my friendships and relationships, always putting emphasis on our shared mornings together. In observing breakfast from this perspective, some interesting things started to happen. Questioning, and noting, domestic positions in the kitchen, and the importance of specific objects to set the tone of the morning. There are patterns, habits, and roles that if not played correctly, can ruin the whole ceremony. When cards are played right and everything is in harmony, you are each given the gift of a full tummy and an elated mood for the rest of the day.
I have been considering this part of my day through drawing, painting, ceramic and textiles, for about a year, each looking at different parts of the ritual, and considering different elements of my association to breakfast.
Breakfast
Since 2022 I have been considering the ritual of Breakfast in my work. The work started with diaristic oil pastel drawings documenting what I made for breakfast each day, but has spiralled into a series of paint works and textile projects. This topic has dragged my work into the domestic sphere leading me to question relationships within the home environment. Within the routine of Breakfast, there are patterns, habits, and roles that if not played correctly, can ruin the whole ceremony, and therefore set the mood of the space for the next forthcoming days. Each project considers socially accepted behaviours in different home environments: living with parents, living with housemates, and living with a partner.
Eggs and Bacon
This project was a documentation of two people in a space which captures their whole relationship. Thinking about different dualities in the kitchen, the stereotypes of the man and woman - the domestic roles we associate to gender, and how they are very fitting in my home. I like that this is reflected in other things in the kitchen - like in the bacon and eggs which cover them. The bacon and eggs are made from tufted wool on monk's cloth. The pair compliment and depend on each other. Dad wears a hat with 3 pairs of knives and forks. Mam wears a hat with 3 pairs of salt and pepper.
Behind closed Drawers, Couples Cutlery p1
The kitchen is this space built to help the domestic space function and to fuel the inhabitants.Lots of mini environments exist within the cupboards and containers, tubs, cups, pots, pans, jars or drawers.Inside the the cutlery drawer is a series joined dark coffins, divided up, grouped, separated. This narrative was funny to me - thinking about spooning, forking - imagining the drawer closes and the cutlery all begin their domestic drawer life with relationships, affairs and lies complicating their existence. I made these 4 knife and fork couples. They each represent a different relationship within the Kitchen environment. Each couple is an extension of a body. They are long and winding and want to interact with each other.
