Gut instinct

The art of consumption

Featured in

  • Published 20221101
  • ISBN: 978-1-922212-74-0
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

For artist Elizabeth Willing, food has long been a source of fascination as well as a tool of her trade. It’s both material and subject, connecting her work across forms as diverse as wallpaper prints, cookbook collages, edible sculptures and live dining events. Just as food can provoke a strange cornucopia of responses in us, from disgust to desire, Willing’s creations prompt us to confront the complexity of our relationship with what we consume and why it so often ends up on our minds as well as our plates.

CARODY CULVER: The art you create is always linked to the act of consumption. Can you tell me what drew you to food as both artistic subject and source material?

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Elizabeth Willing

Elizabeth Willing is a Brisbane-based visual artist. Her exhibitions and concept meals have been held in Australia and overseas at Trapholt Museum of Art...

More from this edition

Eat me in the city

MemoirThe idea of having my body lovingly prepared and cooked as a feast for friends seems like a particularly beautiful death to me, and one that needs careful planning and consideration.

Finding the fundamentals of culture

MemoirValuing a job that creates something tangible is probably why, on leaving school, I opted to become a chef; I liked the idea of making food, and hopefully making people happy. It’s probably why I farm, because doing something physical, to produce something you can actually touch, is wired into me.

Quinoa nation

FictionWe don’t stock Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook. I know this because Amanda thinks Gwyneth Paltrow is goofy, despite Amanda and Gwyneth Paltrow being the same person. Our customers are Gwyneth Paltrow’s target demographic. If Gwyneth Paltrow wrote a novel our book club would ­literally devour it.

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.