Published 11 June 2024 in Media Blogs
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen.
Welcome to the Sweet but Deadly exhibition at the Viewing Room art gallery.
This exhibition invites you to delve into the paradoxical allure of sweetness entwined with
danger. Each piece here tells a story of temptation and peril, challenging our perceptions
and stirring our imaginations. Each individual piece on display is a reminder that what
captivates our senses can also conceal a darker reality.
When this process of this exhibition started in the end of March, this reasoning behind the
name was a completely different thought back then. It was intentionally an exhibition in
dedication to someone with whom I love dearly that has type one diabetes his entire life. I
started dating a type one diabetic since last year October. He told me on our first date that
he is a type one diabetic since he was a baby - 18 months old as his mother would say.
When he described what eating and foods were for him, these three words came up - Sweet
but Deadly. During the progression of my relationship with him, I began to understand the
psychology of his struggles with diabetes then a question came up during one of our late-
night talks, what would others see as sweet but Deadly other than diabetes. How many of us
know about diabetes or diseases that are Romanized as simple as that? What are things we
see as simply sweet but deadly? That became the spark of why this exhibition needs to
happen.
I knew I couldn't limit the ideas the artists I invited on a theme such as this. I had a very vague idea of what I would
have wanted to see for this exhibition, but honestly seeing what each of them sent me
through for the exhibition blew me away each time. I was shocked, I entertained and
humbled through the stories these amazing artists told. In the beginning it started as
artworks where it is just deadly fruit and poisonous flowers. Then came the artworks with
darker stories. A lot of them mentioned their ways of what was sweet but deadly was to
them. From the simplest idea of seeking greatness in one's identity to the dangers of alcohol
addiction and plastic surgery to the softness of the sacrifice of a honeybee. There is even in
the beginning as you walk by the stairs a tray of chocolates though seemingly delicious to
touch but the messages of lost loved ones and memories will make you rethink of opening
that chocolate wrapper mentally. Each artwork and artist statement I read gave me new
perspectives that people really need to understand more. Even while the love of my life had
been in a diabetic coma recently and worrying me to death, seeing these works here today
still gave me the wake-up call check in with the people around us more. Someone you know,
might be suffering from addiction or illness and just needs someone (judgments aside) to be
there for them in their lowest. Or even struggles identity and past traumas of motherhood.
Thank you to all the artists that came through different walks of life to participate in this
exhibition, these are your stories on this floor. You guys captivated and surprised me more
than I ever thought possible since I started planning this exhibition. Thank you for Lucy, for
allowing this opportunity to take place in wonderful gallery. Thank you to all the staff for all
your hard work to make this beautiful set up on this cold Saturday morning.
I leave you with this ladies and gentleman. When you go through the exhibition and view the
works, I hope you find reflections within yourselves on what is your own struggles that you
haven't told a loved one about. Might be a struggling conflicting relationship you need to end
but can't, or an addiction to drugs that you had for a long time but too embarrassed to tell
anyone or even simply a disease that you carry where the simplest of foods is
always….sweet but deadly.