Last Supper Food Art 2009 – Christina Kelly

Food Artist Christina Kelly

Title: Maize Field

Ingredients: harvested corn that I am drying for seed, as well as photographs, text and drawings, narrative of artistic inquiry

New York City is constantly changing. From the very beginning the development of this city has depended upon the displacement of people, native flora, fauna and ways of life. On the other hand, recently, there has been positive change in the city as well. Natural areas are now being cleared of invasive species and are starting to thrive once more. Waterfronts are becoming more accessible. Community gardens and small urban farms grow in what were once vacant lots.

The MAIZE FIELD project aims to draw attention to and participate in the continual change that defines the city by highlighting a lost historical past then integrating that history back into the present landscape.

This summer I planted two “Three Sisters Gardens” with native varieties of corn, beans and squash as part of my research for MAIZE FIELD. The companion planting system of the Three Sisters Garden is a great metaphor for community, as the success of the corn depends also on the beans and the squash. And nutritionally the three compliment each other. There is both an elegance and beauty to the planting system and garden itself. Saving seeds from this year’s crop for the next year’s project helps both to keep viable these varieties of corn and in itself is a gesture of sustainability.

Bio

Christina Kelly is a Brooklyn based visual artist and film/video editor. She has a BA in English Literature from Barnard College (’93) and an MFA in Film/Video from Bard (’00). As an editor her feature film credits include Off Duty (dir. Vijay Mathew), A Four Letter Word (dir. Casper Andreas) and Church and State (dir. Eric Weber) and Betweeen Love and Goodbye (dir Casper Andreas). She also edited Describe Video, a single channel video installation by Judy Radul, and worked as an assistant editor on Ramin Bahrani’s films Man Push Cart and Chop Shop. She is a frequent contributor to the PBS program In the Life.

Christina’s recently exhibited work includes “ChandelAir Flight 69″ (2005), “You Burn Me” (2006), “Gowanus Oyster Shrines” (2008), and “Pay Dirt Transforming the Economy” (2009). This summer, as part of her Maize Field project she is planting three sister’s gardens with native varieties of corn and beans in Prospect Park and on the Waterpod.