One of my more ridiculous undertakings of late was a supplementation of the Jessie Ngaio experience with biscuitry. Her ‘Cold Salt Skin’ exhibition opened on Friday, and we thought ‘what better way to enhance the already-psychedelic mermaid artworks than to pump its viewers full of sugar?’ There was also wine.
I know that there was at least one coeliac in the room, and for me that’s enough to make the whole operation gluten-free. Dietary accessibility is the coolest. And really, no one should be able to tell that they’re gluten-free, because they should not taste like your archetypal crumbly dry rice flour-y mess that is what most coeliacs are fed. I’ve come to trust the Gluten-Free Girl as a good starting point for GF translations of classic recipes, and while I think her flagrant use of sorghum flour does impart a very particlar flavour to the products of her recipes that doesn’t always please me, I am very grateful for access to her approach to gluten liberation and I think she’s doing good work. And so I used her recipe for cut-outs, substituting half white rice flour and half almond meal for the sweet rice flour, which I have not yet been able to find in Melbourne. The frosting is a standard buttercream. Edible glitter was also involved.
This, despite being one of the most labour-intensive things I’ve done for someone else, was totally fun. It’s not exactly my style – or at least I’d like to think so – but anything with repetition is something I can really get into for its more meditative qualities. Also, pastry bags are good fun. It became quite an assembly-line process with a very definable rhythm, and seeing all of these little creatures take shape was a trippy process. I tend to think that about all baked goods that are made to look like living things. Putting faces on gingerbread koalas at Each Peach is one of the weirdest things I’ve ever done. Try listening to Bjork’s ‘Oceania’ and looking out over a sea of mermaids. Freaky shit.
But the best good fun of these was watching a gallery full of folks take pictures of them with their phones or pick up a tray of them and serve them to their fellow patrons. They went quickly with few casualties and they seemed to please people. Especially the person they were most meant to please.
I can’t help but feel that they look a bit Communist.
wooden spooning 
I am totally linking to this post when I get a chance to post about my exhibition in my journal. The photo of all of them in rows like that is so great! I loved the variation in epressions, by the way and the effort put into the tails was just incredible.
That exhibition was one of the most affirming, amazing experiences my life so far. Having an amazing baker create crazy, tasty, kitschy, nipply mermaid cookies was by far one of the major highlights – I think it really helped give the whole thing a great vibe as it allowed people to interact with each other and the artwork in a really cool way. I got just as many comments on the cookies as I did the artwork so well done madame! Tres awesome! Tres awesome indeed!
Thank you for making Jessie’s exhibition pop with sugary delight–what a perfect compliment, AND, AND she didn’t go spastic making 75 cupcakes for it, which undoubtedly would be great, too, but also would put her in more a frenzy than such a beautiful woman needs to be put in.
They look awesome. I wish I had one. Right. Now.
Lots of love from the good ol’ US of A!
Jessie’s girl crush (and vice versa of course of course)
Good work – everyone was talking about these things during and after the exhibition. I’ve even been asked whether they’re going to be around for the whole thing (maybe if one fell behind a couch). There definitely needs to be more intertextual baked goods at galleries, as a general rule.
Way cool synergistic action the way your cookies enhanced Jesse Ngaio’s art exhibition (& career) and your baking ambitions! Extremely well done!
That shit is too hot to handle. I see your biscuits and I think fondly of Pink Flamingos, Rock Lobsters, and the doomed Giant Prawn roadside attraction. Sirens of the sea via Doris Day in technicolour. I feel woozy with certain feelings that emanate from my reproductive glands. Baking has never been sexier.
@JNgaio: I loved that you would even consider having something like this as part of / at your exhibition, and I think that reflects on the sort of artist you are. That was the first exhibition opening that hasn’t had me running for the door because it was so very community-like and friendly and it seemed that wankers were at an all-time minimum. I loved that people had that extra element of sensation to add to the experience of looking at your art, which already leaves a candy-and-brine taste in my mouth. I wonder if it actually affected the way anyone saw any of your work. And whether or not that would be a good thing if it did.
Bee, well, it would actually be the second time I’ve had food stuffs combined with my art. During the first showing of a segment from “Tammy’s Tea Party” at university, I made people sit on a pink, fluffy mat and fed them vanilla cupcakes coloured bright pink with foodcolouring, topped with a bright pink butter cream icing. Actually, here’s a photo of me serving them: http://photos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v111/135/24/624904277/n624904277_151445_6109.jpg
I would actually like to more seriously consider combine art and food in the future – I like the idea of viewing art being this whole sensory, memorable experience. Your cookies really helped me think more about that. Eating is such a social, ice breaking experience that I truly believe it served to open people up to the art viewing experience.
Or something.
super ace.