artist statement

Jello Jamboree

Jello is a wonderfully bizarre and peculiar thing. It can be a preserving agent, a kid’s lunchtime snack, a dessert, or even an art medium. I am interested in the endless possibilities of what can go into these jellos, along with the variety of molds one can find. 

 The jello mold pieces I make reference jello salads that were made and consumed in the mid-twentieth century. What we see now as a sweet dessert that jiggles was once a preserving agent people used to use to make their food last longer. Often people would put their leftovers in jello, savory foods such as meat and vegetables, and other unlikely foods in gelatin to create a new horrendous cake-like meal for their family. These jello salads stray so far from what we consider to be food now that I have questioned what is the limit to what can go into these jello molds until they are seen as inedible. 

I use jello molds with things extending beyond the realm of food. Jello has the power to encase things within and attempt to preserve whatever it holds inside. I repetitively make these jellos trying to find the limit of what can go inside and explore the possibilities of this medium.