Paige Citarella

COMMON * IDENTITY 

Like art, food has the ability to bring people together. It plays such a large role in our society and seems to be the epicenter of every social gathering. From small intimate moments to large scale gatherings, food is present.

Why do we consume in such excess? Simply put, human beings need food for survival, yet we consume in such vast quantities. Eventually I realized that food is what brings our lives together, it is our ​common identity​. Not only does food have the power to define culture, tradition, history and class, but it has the power to bring them all together as one.

Using my paintings, I wanted to explore my own personal experiences with food and reflect on some moments that have shaped how I see and interact with it today. As a child, my family spent our summers clamming, crabbing and fishing out on the bay. These were the moments that defined my childhood; these were the moments that filled our lives with laughter, joy, the occasional sunburn but most importantly the shared meal at the end of the day.

Originally, through repetition, my work explores the gluttonous side of our modern day over-consumption of food. Eventually using brighter, more vibrant colors, my work expresses food as happiness, food as the common denominator.