Shannon Syme

Bachelor of Fine Arts (Drawing & Printmaking)

I make drawings and objects from food, specifically the ingredients that normally constitute ‘cake’. I arrange different elements with enough specificity to offer some familiarity, but with an entropic overlay. In my ‘cake objects’, I execute copious piping in structures that suggest architecture, dioramas of fantasy ruins, wild gardens, playgrounds, or domestic interiors, which contrast with abject forms, colours and textures. The use of an ephemeral material such as cake focuses one’s attention on the passing of time. A celebratory object used to signify important events is allowed to decay; its original gustatory function thwarted, replaced with the slow decay of sustenance. The works are designed to evoke disgust and temptation in the viewer, exploring sugar as both desirable and sickening, familiar and repellent.