SEE TO YOUR OWN SAUCE, 2019 

by Beth Stuart

archival digital print

24 x 18 in (61 x 46 cm) unframed

edition of 10

Macaroni pops up again and again in Beth Stuart's work, as one of the infrequent moments of direct representation in a practice that otherwise leans more heavily towards abstraction. It's as simple as the form of a smile, and as complex as a symbol of cultural conformity and assimilation. Most of all, it is a reminder of a relationship between inside and outside that we all possess. Stuart often uses materials that have a transformational capacity. The original works were made from Venetian plaster, an architectural surface made from ground marble dust, used to produce wall coatings that imitate stone. The pasta, similarly, goes from its original form, is dried and ground and made into a paste, only to be reconstituted into a new form, one that represents a vision of comfort that promises universality, but ignores its cultural origins.