UpFall Art Station

Artificial Sweetener is both an exhibition and an exploration of psychological "stickiness." In these photographs, I use food materials that are largely glutinous-candies, pastries, and sugary treats- to explore the stickiness of certain psychological spaces that are internalized from familial experiences. The substances I use are often heavy, sweet, sugar-based confections, widely used in processed foods as well as within the household setting for baked goods. They express both excess and absence, as these particular foods are the epitome of 'junk foods,' high in additives and artificial sweeteners, but provide no value to the human body, oftentimes causing it harm. This material serves as a stand in for an inescapable, smothering stickiness of the psychological and emotional spaces I am photographically exploring. The Artificial Sweetener installation is a way to visually explore and re-contextualize the shifting systems that are present within a nuclear family- to question an assumed knowledge of the past and the invented realities we often create for ourselves and for others.