by Amiria Gale, Student Art Guide, FEBRUARY 8, 2017
A LEVEL ART PROJECT: OBESITY & JUNK FOOD 98%
Nikau began her A2 Painting Coursework by selecting the topic of junk food, focusing in particular on the excessive consumption of junk food by young people and the health risks that are linked to the consumption of additive-laden, calorie-rich products.
With Janet Fish as inspiration, Nikau set up a picnic in a local park, providing a group of young children from her local primary school with junk food such as hamburgers, hot dogs, chips and lollies. Nikau then documented these children as they gorged themselves, taking hundreds of photographs.
Nikau began to paint over disassembled fast food packages, with the cardboard shapes and text upon them remaining visible through layers of paint. Much of the text on the packages contains lists of artificial ingredients; these words became integral to her compositions. Nikau smears paint over realistic figures, obscuring children’s eyes, as if to indicate that they are blind to the health risks that are linked to what they are eating.
When viewing Nikau’s A Level Art project you are immediately struck by the joyful images of children eating…however closer examination of the work brings a slow unease and eventual horror as you see the names of artificial additives and ingredients leaching through the painting surface. Conveying a message cleverly, while retaining absolute attention to the production of aesthetically pleasing images: an excellent A Level Art project.
Analysis: This piece points out the interference of our relationship with food from a young age by food corporations in America. The way that the artist contrasts the joy of eating in children with the dangers of processed foods is incredibly effective.
