Flamin' Hot

This week submissions were due for the NEIU Student Art Show. The theme of the shows are elemental, and this year the theme was "Fire." I was struggling for a while with what to portray that was related to fire and also related to my work, but with the help of my friend I comfortably landed on "Flamin' Hot Cheetos." How do you like that?

In general, I usually treat each subject in two ways: a really messy, macro shot that highlights all of the grossness of the act of mass consumption and a clean, portrait of the model that expresses a sort of horror or denial of the act of consumption itself.

Flamin' Hot Cheetos 1, Digital Print, 2011, 8"x10"

Thus, the gross / up-close image. I used the Cheetos because of the name (Flamin'---fire--yea you get it), but I also wanted to express the feeling of burning in one's mouth. For realism, the model ate spoonfuls of Thai chile paste... hence the snot. Yes, it was really that hot :O. Scotty is such a trooper!

Flamin' Hot Cheetos 2, Digital Print, 2011, 8"x10"

This image is representative of the "other half of the picture" when it comes to the act of eating. On the one had, there is the reality behind eating: what eating looks like, eating disorders, and the strange eating habits that people experience when in private. On the other hand, there is the commercial side of eating: the beautiful airbrushed people who are never actually eating but are shown as if they are. Admittedly, in my "Pies" series the work was more about the denying that one eats, while these "Flamin' Hot Cheetos" are more about the literal pain of eating spicy foods and the torturous effects that result, but the images are still very much related.

To see all of the "Flamin' Hot Cheetos" pictures please visit my FLICKR where you can also find all of my "Pies" series (under "People+Food" and "See Food").

More spiciness to come soon :)