The elaborate designs behind snack foods are the starting point for the ceramics of Elisa Barczak. In the 2004 Journal of Sensory Studies, for instance, Dr Charles Spence—a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University—proved that potato chips actually taste fresher if we hear a louder crunch. Although junk food is sold so cheaply, giant corporations have poured millions of dollars into this kind of multisensory psychological research to determine the perfect crinkle of a chip bag or the lurid hue of a gummy worm.

In Salad Days Are Gone, products which are usually mass-produced on factory lines are lovingly transformed into handmade works of art. Displayed in cases that evoke both museum vitrines and grocery store lolly bins, Barczak’s work draws a connection between the seductive viewing pleasures of both spaces. Her works retain the artificial colouring and familiar shapes of beloved treats, but their addictive taste and alluring packaging are stripped away—leaving only their visual pleasures to be consumed.

Elisa Barczak is a ceramic artist who graduated from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland in 2016, and is now based in Cologne, Germany. Her work has been shown at the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui and Uxbridge Gallery in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.