Press Ham

Group Exhibition – Wonder Women 9: Superfood
_gaia studios Artist Residency, 2015
Gallery Aferro, Newark, NJ

Installation at Gallery Aferro in 2015

Installation at Artworks Trenton in 2016

Artist Statement

Press Ham is a compact diary of consumption, food and memory mechanically separated and reformed into thick, meaty slices.  A pristinely set meal serves as the stage for a baked derriere-ham, the embodiment of bodily (im)perfection and a cache of beloved and excruciating reminiscence.  The quilted and be-pearled skin is an armor, keeping in the flavor and intensity that exists just below the surface.

The walls are decked with individual slices in remembrance of specific moments wherein body image, gender roles, and family ties coalesced with the consumption of food.  Employing color, texture, and handmade textiles, Eggleston invokes physical manifestations of emotion and experience.  By fleshing out her culinary history, she allows the viewer to compare and contrast with their own experiences.

Titles for the 8 slices on the wall in order left to right:
Breathing in the drying room
Negative freshmen fifteen
Teglach with extra honey
Spinach fettuccini day
Pin feathers and pilers
Halloween funeral
Dirty, green tomato juice
Pregnant BLT day