‘galt house hotel, louisville, kentucky: 9 may 2010’ from ‘nine fake cakes and nine bodies of water’ by jacinda russell archival inkjet print 30" x 20"all images courtesy the artist

american artist jacinda russell developed a sculptural and photographic series investigating the themes of beauty, escapism and desire in the form of styrofoam cakes pictured floating in clear bodies of water found all over north america. each of the single-level and tiered cakes were tinted with acrylic and decorated with waterproof caulk and placed near lakes, rivers, pools and sea. she traveled across the continent search of pristine water upon which her false-food sculptures would float. russell says she returned from building her project with what she saw as ‘a product that commented on the illusion of what is fake and what is real, what is happy and what is sad, and what is desirous but unattainable… cakes, both real and fake, appeared to make people happy and I wondered, most simply, if they could make me happy too‘.

nine fake cakes floating in nine bodies of water by jacinda russell - 2 ‘scott and kim anderson’s backyard, hartford city, indiana: 18 june 2010’ archival inkjet print 30" x 20"

‘two of the most desirous objects in 20th century art are wayne thiebaud’s thickly textured paintings of desserts and ed ruscha’s photographs of azure swimming pools. they were my biggest inspirations as I sought ways of combining them, creating a mixed media spectacle of performance art, sculpture, and photography. ed ruscha is a frequent reference in my artwork and the number nine was chosen in homage to his famous series nine swimming pools and a broken glass but I expanded the locations to include not just artificial pools of water but natural springs, the ocean, freshwater lakes, and rivers.’ –jacinda russell

nine fake cakes floating in nine bodies of water by jacinda russell - 3 ‘sooke potholes park, vancouver island, british columbia, canada: 16 july 2010’ archival inkjet print 20" x 30"

I didn’t stray too far from the concept of object as self-portrait. the slice depicts the part of me I left home in the pacific northwest (as photographed in the canadian southwest) when I moved to indiana. the desert sun captures one of the happiest times in my life in one of my favorite places (tucson, arizona) while the 3-tier photographed at niagara falls acknowledges one of the saddest. the cake deemed little great lakes, the smallest of them all, shows an underlying determinism and hope as it bravely faces the incoming waves, only to be toppled over time and time again…‘ –jacinda russell

nine fake cakes floating in nine bodies of water by jacinda russell - 4 the set of cakes

nine fake cakes floating in nine bodies of water by jacinda russell - 5 (top left to bottom left clockwise) ‘lake superior: miners beach, pictured rocks national lakeshore, michigan: 12 august 2010’, archival inkjet print, 20" x 30" ‘lake erie: evangola state park, new york: 29 june 2010’, archival inkjet print, 30" x 20" ‘barton springs, austin, texas: 13 june 2010’, archival inkjet print, 20" x 30" 

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