Let them look at cake
Walking to a connection in the Philadelphia airport, I saw a display of photographs on the wall. Basically, it was pictures she had taken of her sculptures.
The unusual part: the sculpture material was cake and icing.
Typically, a thought of cake decorating brings to mind elegant swirls and flowers and precision placement of patterns and decoration. Think of wedding cakes (ours would not be a good example, Daleks are definitely unusual). But her cakes — these were birthday cakes like your kids would make, tons of color, tons of icing, and clearly valuing enthusiasm and joy over precision and elegance. I imagined giving Lillian access to unlimited icing color choices and setting her loose… these would be the cakes she produced.
I’ve never been a huge art fan, because I don’t tend to “get it.” This, though, is my taste.
I also like some of the discussion of her motivations found on her web site:
… the industry of do- it- yourself divas is still going strong in television, magazines and books. It’s a fantasy world where entertaining, cooking and decorating unite…. one needs to have a beautiful home, decorated seasonally, in order to entertain friends with gourmet meals and elaborately concocted desserts.
I totally get this!!! I just want a house that is mostly clean, because that’s all guests really need to be concerned with; the decorating should be what we feel comfortable sitting on and looking at. We are stuck living here year-round, guests are here for a meal or a few days. If they are interested in where I live more than in who I am, then I doubt they are the sort of people I really want coming over to my house. The house will reflect my identity, not the other way around.
