EAT ME

Semi-finalist 2023

Submitted by:Tanya Klimp
Department:Art and Design
Faculty:Arts

Packaging or content, which is more important. In our society we perceive the content as having value and the package it came in as having none. My studio practice investigates this perception. Unfolding discarded packaging and unpacking its content, I am left with a shell, a skin, a vessel. Garbage is elevated to a fine art object once I add new content to it, whether by painting, embroidering or collaging. And in terms of content, I am exploring the theme of consumption. My artworks act as mirrors, reflecting the many things we mindlessly consume. It also asks viewers to question relevance, why is value placed on some commodities and not others. In the case of the image submitted, it was a lowly burger wrapper destined for a single brief use then onward to a landfill. This process has been disrupted. On the Junior Chicken wrapper I embroidered a sweet watery-eyed young chick in plaid suspenders with the words EAT ME being formed from the McDonald’s logo. Humor is present, but on a serious note I want people to be more aware of the abundance of waste we create and ideally educate themselves more on what our consumption is truly costing us all.