Comfort from Grandma’s Kitchen

Created as part of the Sanchez Art Center 50x50 challenge
September, 2020

With the arrival of COVID-19 at the beginning of 2020, many of us began a life of seclusion in the act of sheltering in place. To combat the anxiety of a future unknown, of a week or two of isolation turning into months of solitude, many of us began stress baking or anxiety cooking. As a salve for the unease of this troubling existence, bread baking alone caused a national shortage of flour and yeast, and a flurry of recipe-sharing on social media. I saw these angst-ridden gastronomic endeavors as more than just a way to kill boredom, but a global invocation towards the creation of that which one finds comforting: favorite foods from our childhood. The act of baking comfort foods became an entreaty to our subconscious to recreate those ancestral flavors, family security, and sense of home found in the kitchens of our mothers and grandmothers. 

After deciding the recipe and appropriate utensil for each piece, I began painting the board to illustrate the main ingredient of the recipe. In an homage to all our grandmothers who cooked for us, these artworks reflect our desire to bring our ancestors back into our hearts and stomachs, through the foods that they once prepared for us: to help us heal, ease our suffering, and nourish our bodies and our souls.