Advisor: Isak Berbic + Ezra Thompson + Martin Levine

“La Invitación”

Food connects everyone to particular aspects of their life. A particular meal could form a connection between friends, family, traditions, a specific memory or to a person’s culture and heritage. Food, to me, has always been an encompassing facet in my life. As a child I was introduced to a wide-ranging food palette. It was important to my family that I be exposed to different tastes and textures; the taste of my rich culture’s family heritage. As my mother was and is a picky eater, she made it a point for us to dine with my father. She didn’t want to influence our taste and behaviors and she knew that my father would be a better example to expand our palettes. My father likes a variety of foods, especially seafood, spices, and condiments. Although she didn’t like these foods, she always prepared them for us. 

Colombian food contains many different herbs and spices all varying in tastes and textures. From the soft textures of beans, to the hard crunch of chicharrón, or fried pork belly, teaching her children to appreciate Colombian food was something both my parents made an effort in crafting in our home. Our family gatherings were an opportunity to experience different meals from Colombia created by our grandmother and extended family members. 

Popular culture and media often depicts children rebelling against their culture and heritage. Whether this be in the form of fashion, music, food, customs and or traditions, my sisters and I never rebelled or rejected our cultural heritage. The many customs and traditions that include the language, landscape and especially the food is something that I’ve always embraced. At our family parties and gatherings, the music of my favorite Colombian singer, Jorge Celedón can usually be heard blasting extremely loud. His song La Invitación, literally invites listeners to come to visit Colombia and illustrates all the great things there are to do and see in each city. To me this song represents the particular ways we follow traditions and customs. Like cooking buñuelos every other weekend in December, and having picada once a year on January 1st for dinner. To also having bandeja paisa being both cooked at home and carried from restaurants of Queens. It is an important part of being a Colombian on Long Island; there is nothing better than the food from one’s culture. 

The beginning of the new year for my family marks a special occasion to spend time with family and truly cherish one another. Every New Year’s Eve, my family always throws a big party that ends with about 20 or so people in the house eating, drinking and dancing all night long until about 6 in the morning. The next day would follow with my cousins, sisters’ and I waking up extremely late, typically around 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Miraculously, my parents and all the adults would somehow wake up at 11 in the morning to have breakfast and wait for all the children to come downstairs. We would then lounge around the house watching movie after movie, which would usually end up being the Rocky movie series. Around 4 to 5 pm, the excitement would build as the cooking of the Picada would start. 

Every January 1st, my family’s dinner, depending on the amount of guests, is always either one or two large trays of Picada. Picada contains a variety of foods like steak, chicken, arepa, potato, yuca, morcilla, chorizo, chicharrón, carne de cerdo and plantain. This meal is always prepared by mother and the older women in the house. My mother, grandmother, and aunts emerge from their rest and get straight to preparing and cooking because they are familiar with the amount of time it takes to cook the picada. Our family’s picada contains papa criolla, steak, chunchullo, arepas, platanos, round potatoes, squished plantains, rellena, and everyone’s favorite, chicharrón. This meal is extremely special to my family and I, as this is the one (and only) time of year we will have this meal. Although these foods are typically side dishes throughout the year, January 1st is the day when everyone gathers and eats together.

Kayla Gómez Molano, Picada, linoleum on aluminum tray

The creation of the piece suggests the actual preparation and cooking of the picada. For me, when deciding on how I wanted to represent picada, I thought it best to print directly on an aluminum tray with linoleum stamps. Carving each stamp of food was very similar to gathering all the food together and getting ready to cook it.  I went in with the plan of carving all the stamps, then going into printing on the trays. Although I didn’t exactly carve out all the food that is presented in a typical picada, choosing only my personal favorites to be presented and carving them out to look like the specific food was enough for me. Printing and placement on the tray is also very similar to how my mother would layer each food in the tray. Everytime dinner would be called, we would expect to see our favorite food, the chicharrón on top. Sadly it is always buried at the bottom of the tray. As my mother may have unintentionally hidden our beloved chicharrón, I decided to add more of the chicharrón and emphasize its color and importance.

I also decided to print the stamps out on paper in multiples to isolate and amplify the specific ingredients. I wanted these multiples to exhibit the amount a tray has the capacity to hold, which is a lot.

Sancocho de Cola (or in english, oxtail soup) is a Colombian delicacy that my whole family loves to sit down and enjoy, with the exception of my sister’s and I. This soup contains carrots, potatoes, yucca root, plantains, herbs, and of course oxtail meat. Sancocho de cola is traditionally served in a black ceramic bowl with a wooden basket underneath for protection against the hot bowl. The soup is usually consumed on one of two occasions, when someone in the immediate family is sick or for a large family gathering. The latter occasion usually happens during the summertime after enjoying a summer day in the pool, if one sees the firepit being lit and the big silver pot coming outside, the whole family knows what’s being prepared for dinner.

Kayla Gómez Molano, Sancocho de Cola, linoleum reduction

For this piece I decided to do a linoleum reduction which is essentially the process of reducing your linoleum plate incrementally from layer to layer. For this print, I did a five color reduction. The process of linoleum reduction allows for a limited number of prints. This meal is one of the foods we don’t have often. When we do make the soup, we usually have just enough for all the people that are immediately present.  The seven prints created are representative (and significant) of the family members at this meal – my parents, grandparents, sisters, and myself.      

Kayla Gómez Molano, Sancocho de Cola, 7 prints of linoleum reduction

Bandeja Paisa is a common and popular dish that is served in Colombia and it’s one that my sisters and I always look forward to being cooked in our home. The meal contains steak, beans, white rice, chicharrón, chorizo, fried egg, ripe plantain, arepa and avocado. This plate is one of my family’s personal favorites for one particular reason, again, the chicharrón. Colombian chicharrón is fried pork belly that gives you both a soft texture of meat as well as a hard, crunchy portion at the bottom.  It is a particular favorite of my mom.

Kayla Gómez Molano, Bandeja Paisa, oil on wood panel

For the bandeja paisa, I decided to create a near replica of what the bandeja paisa would look like when coming out from a kitchen and being served immediately. I decided to paint on a wood panel, to illustrate the gloss, radiance, and size. I used oil paint to show how bright and radiant this food is when coming out. The oil paint amplifies the color saturation of the food; especially for the beans, avocado, and plantains.

Kayla Gómez Molano, Buñuelos, digital photography

A dessert staple from Colombia that is made specifically during Christmas time are buñuelos. Buñuelos are a mix of cheese, cornstarch and yucca flour that are molded into little cheeseballs one can enjoy. For as long as I can remember, my family has always made buñuelos at least 4 times during the holiday season. When the calendar hits December 1st, my father, sisters and I know to expect – that for the upcoming weekend, a delicious dinner will be on its way.  

   Making buñuelos isn’t necessarily a long and difficult process, as the steps are fairly simple and easy to follow. I decided to pair the steps of making buñuelos with digital photography. Through photography, I highlight the bright colors this pastry reveals when fried. It was important for me to include my mom in this photo series, as cooking the buñuelos is something she has always done for us. I wanted to capture her performing the physical act of combining the ingredients together, mixing it with her hands and frying them. With photography, I am also able to depict the exact environment (or location), albeit closely cropped, where this activity always occurs.  

From an early age I realized that what makes me, me, is directly influenced by my family and where we are originally from. This exhibition was a way to express myself both through my cultural identity and as a young artist. Being able to create art with the subject of food and experimenting with different media to elicit and suggest various tastes and textures has led me to savor and celebrate this cultural identity.  It has been my wish to ‘invite’ (La Invitación) the audience to my family’s delectable food gatherings and share in our warm celebrations and traditions. Gracias a todos!