CULINARY ART HOUSE

Culinary Art House is an ever-emerging, fluid mixed media project that provides space for Simone (and friends!) to explore personal, ecological, cultural, ancestral, spiritual and political perspectives around land, food, foodways, cooking and gardening. The exhibition highlights "I am not the victim here", "Meditations on Alchemy" and "Starry", collage works by Simone focusing on experiments with alchemy and symbolic rebirth, particularly around transforming associations connected to historical, racist depictions of Black people and watermelon.

In another collage called "What is a Kitchen?" she meditates on cosmic connections between the kitchen and soil, and the kitchen as a space of transmission. There is also "Georgia Rice Lineages: For Jane, Amanda, Nolie, Mildred, Elaine, Theresa and Simone" which focuses on the connections between family, ancestry and rice culture that's been strongly passed down through her maternal line. "Okra Mixtape Vol. 1 (EP)" is an ode to unfamiliarity and curiosity, learning about one's food culture and inventing a relationship with a cultural/ancestral food that didn't exist before. Finally "Self-Portrait" shows Simone adorned in different ways, especially with the Sun and the Moon.

Most of her work is informed by personal experiences and in conversation with or response to culinary literature and media she collects. Besides developing a practice of cooking and gardening, one of the main goals of Culinary Art House is to spur conversation and connection around the topics the project explores.

Over the last four months, the project has grown in numerous ways:

1) the Culinary Art House library was born at Chinatown Soup which includes, among many beloved titles, "The Cooking Gene: A Journey through African-American Culinary History in the Old South" by Michael Twitty, "Black Rice: The African Origins of Rice Cultivation in the Americas" by Judith A. Carney, "Iron Pots & Wood Spoons: Africa's Gifts to New World Cooking" by Jessica B. Harris, and "Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat:Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking" by Samin Nosrat . . . the library will continue to grow and evolve;

2) after spending time in Chinatown and the Lower Eastside, being around more Asian artists and food cultures, Simone has decided to journey Culinary Art House to different places throughout New York City, and perhaps, one day the world, to learn more about that particular community's food culture while also researching and connecting with her own;

3) infusing experimentation and play with manifestation and creativity as it connects to Culinary Art House and finally;

4) through a spontaneous conversation about creative blocks with Michelle, Simone has started exploring new mixed media terrain, working with larger surfaces and new materials. The time went fast, but all around it's been a fruitful learning experience that's definitely shaped the direction Culinary Art House is taking in 2021.

In addition to her own visual art, Simone asked a small group of artists with Black and Asian identities to join her in showing related work. This includes (in alphabetical order): Bri Simpson, Denae Howard, Frog the Parhelia and Tattfoo Tan.

Brianna "Bri" Simpson is an American, acrylic painter and writer based in Atlanta, GA. I describe my style as a contemporary hybrid of Afro-futurism, surrealism, and pop art. I draw inspiration from my everyday life. My work is mostly influenced by nature, women, and spirituality. My goal as an artist is to use my art with my writing to tell stories: stories about self-discovery and personal power. Learn more at brisimpsonart.com

Artschoolscammer (Denae Howard) is A Brooklyn-based conceptual artist, educator, curator, and advisor. At the moment she is solely a collaborative artist working with her cooperative #Dayonesart and other Black creatives invested in making work that forces necessary conversation. Her practice stems from a need to create space and conversation around the systems that govern our natural existence. Her works are re-appropriations of negative archetypes and stereotypes to reclaim and transcend positive meaning for Black people but also re-imaginings of the limitless opportunities of Black Existence. Learn more at artschoolscammer.com

The Parhelia is a hub for multiple artist personalities emanating from the same human being. Frog is a painter, book-maker, and performer born in Monterey Park, California, currently based in New York and alumnus of the Chinatown Soup residency program. For inspiration, they seek and speak with shape-shifting Spirit in the ever-changing world around us. Frog keeps visual and written journals as they observe how their American citizenship and mixed Asian ancestries (Han, Manchurian, Mongolian) position themselves in conversations within our cyber-connected globalized era. Learn more at theparhelia.com

Tattfoo Tan is an artist who collaborates with the public on issues relating to ecology, sustainability, and healthy living. His work is project-based, ephemeral, and educational in nature. His projects have been presented by the Laundromat Project, the City of New York Department of Cultural Affairs Percent for the Arts program, and the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts program. He is the recipient of grants from Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, Art Matters, Joan Mitchell Foundation, the Pulitzer Arts Foundation, and Staten Island Arts. He currently serves on the Mayor's Citizens' Advisory Committee to support the development of a Comprehensive Cultural Plan. Learn more at tattfoo.com