we met on a greasy spoon

Cake.



Lots


and lots


and lots of cake.


In her series The Confections, Amy Stevens takes photographs of her own homemade cakes placed over different patterns. The works appear as obsessive studies of color and design. The images are both aesthetically pleasing and grotesque, not to mention totally bizarre.

The series began as the artist's response to turning 30. Confronted with the reality (and fear) of aging and the entailed stereotypical norms of femininity, Stevens ordered a Martha Stewart cake-making kit and attempted to follow an online instructional video. She planned on baking 30 fancy cakes for herself and then photograph them. Needless to say, her cakes were lumpy and, well, gross next to Ms. Stewart's, which opened Steven's eyes into a world of cake creativity.

The cakes reflect the artist's desire to produce objects of sincere beauty and feminine perfection while addressing the absurdity of the process. The cakes are indicative of contemporary Western culture in which females are held to the sugar-frosted expectation of decorating, cooking, and entertaining in a chic, Martha Stewart way: that is, low-brow commonality with the slightest visible touch a woman's hand.

Stevens is interested in the role that women play in society, and I like the way in which she explores the topic. Cake is perishable, crumbly, and seems to hold much more symbolic importance than physical purpose. (This is not to say that cake is a delicious staple of my diet.) The work hints at the perhaps larger topic of human interaction, taking an ordinary food that immediately conjures implications of celebration, collective experiences, and unity but specifically speaks to the isolating and cliche nature of said events. In turn, The Confections ultimately raise questions about the authenticity of processes and (relying on) forced emotion, two topics that I explore in my own work.

I love the because they are beautiful, lonely, and painfully sad while still remaining triumphant, colorful, and celebratory. Plus, I totally want to eat all of them.

Pictured above:
top left: Confections #25, Archival inkjet printer, 2006
top right: Confections #20, Archival inkjet print, 2006
bottom right: Confections #40, Archival inkjet print, 2007