BYOP
I have had a complicated relationship with food for as long as I can remember. It wasn’t until I embraced the art of learning to cook and bake while also relishing in the greater social implications of sharing food with a community that I began to heal that relationship. BYOP is a collection of photographs, recipes, personal essays, and other collaged elements from the last few years of my life that highlight what it’s like to live through your twenties as a woman while also confronting a lifelong battle with disordered eating. BYOP is a book I created that explores how food can be used as a tool for healing, community, and artistic expression, investigating how food can be used as the integral vessel for creative storytelling and highlighting how food and memory coincide.
BYOP at DAAPWorks & Thesis Show
As a part of my BFA program at the University of Cincinnati, DAAP, I had the opportunity to create two exhibitions based on my book, BYOP. I utilized tablecloths from my childhood as the settings for the stories, recipes, and photographs from BYOP. In a way, I wanted to “set the table” with all of the different elements from my project. I also brought food from several of the recipes to the opening reception in the spirit of the themes explored in BYOP.
