Garnished Sundries is a series of still-life images exploring the visual language of food and advertisement. Drawing inspiration from the Rococo era of design—in which there was a high level of ornamentation, disguise and cross-pollination between different areas of life—the series features objects that are in a state of becoming something else entirely. Using archival material from women’s magazines, cookbooks and open-access museum archives, paired with cakes, flowers and food objects, the images speak to how photography has been used to disseminate metrics of good taste, class and health throughout history.
Svava Tergesen lives and works on unceded Musqueam territory (Vancouver). Tergesen holds a BFA in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art & Design. Combining photography with elements of sculpture and collage, Tergesen’s work reimagines everyday experiences of domesticity, gender and health. Recent solo exhibitions include Ornamental Cookery, Audain Art Museum, Whistler (2023) and Garnished Sundries, Telephone Gallery, Vancouver, BC (2022). She has participated in residencies at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity and Duplex Artist Society, and her work has been nominated for the New Generation Photography Award (2021) and the Lind Prize (2020).
