Sarah Krawcheck
Bio
Matt Krawcheck and Sarah Cohen met while earning their respective MFA degrees at the University of Pennsylvania; Matt studied painting and sculpture and Sarah studied photography. As their relationship grew Matt and Sarah thought of ideas for a collaborative art project that would draw from the couple’s shared interest in cooking and exercising. Sarah and Matt graduated from The University of Pennsylvania together and got married a few months later. The couple moved down south when Matt got a job teaching art at Indian State College in Fort Pierce Fl. While living in Florida Sarah began taking pictures of herself with her husband exercising together. In the summer of 2012 Sarah and Matt attended the Vermont Studio Residency and took this opportunity to work more intensely on their collaborative work. Sarah and Matt Krawcheck currently reside at the University of Kansas where Matt is an Artist in Residence at Hashinger Hall.
Artist Statement
S&M, Sarah and Matt
We live in a day and age where it is cheaper and easier to fill up on super-processed snack cakes, chips and food-flavored curls - full of subsidized non-food ingredients - than to buy real and recognizable foods. This body of work is largely about Matt and my journey towards a healthier lifestyle. It has been a life-long goal of mine, Sarah, to be healthy and in shape, but this has been a challenge because I inherited my mom’s passion and talent for baking and a craving for junk food. Matt has fought his own battles related to a family history of severe food allergies and illness. Since Matt and I have been together I have had to make many substitutions in my recipes to accommodate his and my food allergies; together we are allergic to over fifty different foods. “Dessert Substitutions” includes over a dozen recipes for pancakes, muffins, cookies, brownies and cakes that are sugar-free, gluten-free, milk-free, corn-free, soy-free, nut-free, potato-free etc. These improvised creations have helped us to cut simple sugars and carbohydrates out of our diet. Matt and I also became more active since we met because we motivate each other to exercise regularly. The “Getting Fit with S&M” series depicts Matt and me performing exercises that we learned from the website Livestrong.com to build the major muscle groups in the body. The “Mountains of Insecurity” are the ingredients I no longer use. I photographed them in a manner of allure and fantasy as a comment on the way the marketing industry entices consumers to gorge themselves on sugar, flour, and simple carbohydrate-rich “food.” The “Tabloid” project includes Matt and my musings on various different topics, but this piece is primarily a parody of the advertisements that promotes unhealthy lifestyles focused on instant gratification. The various components of “S&M” are our antidote to the attitudes and behaviors in popular culture that ignore what we know about food and health.
Bio
Matt Krawcheck and Sarah Cohen met while earning their respective MFA degrees at the University of Pennsylvania; Matt studied painting and sculpture and Sarah studied photography. As their relationship grew Matt and Sarah thought of ideas for a collaborative art project that would draw from the couple’s shared interest in cooking and exercising. Sarah and Matt graduated from The University of Pennsylvania together and got married a few months later. The couple moved down south when Matt got a job teaching art at Indian State College in Fort Pierce Fl. While living in Florida Sarah began taking pictures of herself with her husband exercising together. In the summer of 2012 Sarah and Matt attended the Vermont Studio Residency and took this opportunity to work more intensely on their collaborative work. Sarah and Matt Krawcheck currently reside at the University of Kansas where Matt is an Artist in Residence at Hashinger Hall.
Artist Statement
S&M, Sarah and Matt
We live in a day and age where it is cheaper and easier to fill up on super-processed snack cakes, chips and food-flavored curls - full of subsidized non-food ingredients - than to buy real and recognizable foods. This body of work is largely about Matt and my journey towards a healthier lifestyle. It has been a life-long goal of mine, Sarah, to be healthy and in shape, but this has been a challenge because I inherited my mom’s passion and talent for baking and a craving for junk food. Matt has fought his own battles related to a family history of severe food allergies and illness. Since Matt and I have been together I have had to make many substitutions in my recipes to accommodate his and my food allergies; together we are allergic to over fifty different foods. “Dessert Substitutions” includes over a dozen recipes for pancakes, muffins, cookies, brownies and cakes that are sugar-free, gluten-free, milk-free, corn-free, soy-free, nut-free, potato-free etc. These improvised creations have helped us to cut simple sugars and carbohydrates out of our diet. Matt and I also became more active since we met because we motivate each other to exercise regularly. The “Getting Fit with S&M” series depicts Matt and me performing exercises that we learned from the website Livestrong.com to build the major muscle groups in the body. The “Mountains of Insecurity” are the ingredients I no longer use. I photographed them in a manner of allure and fantasy as a comment on the way the marketing industry entices consumers to gorge themselves on sugar, flour, and simple carbohydrate-rich “food.” The “Tabloid” project includes Matt and my musings on various different topics, but this piece is primarily a parody of the advertisements that promotes unhealthy lifestyles focused on instant gratification. The various components of “S&M” are our antidote to the attitudes and behaviors in popular culture that ignore what we know about food and health.
