Jamie Cheung

Artist Statement

Food to me is a sensory experience that should invoke play and wonder — it is a medium that can be interactive, spatial, and personal. My practice explores dining as an act of placemaking and collective archive. I strive for my culinary practice to break the boundaries of formality and am committed to creating tablescapes for exchange, conversation, and celebration. My culinary practice feels like an intricately woven tapestry of relationships and experiences that have surrounded me. Despite my Chinese-Canadian upbringing, my palette has been most informed through cohabitation with roommates who were third culture kids as well. While inviting and coexisting in a space filled with individual yet distinct cultural values, sharing meals passed down through generations, and living the way our loved ones have lived has been intrinsic to my overall practice.

Hong Kong Style street food and non-greasy bites in a tablescape for Food Mahjong Club #4 in Chinatown, NY. Photo Credit: David Chow

Bio

Jamie is a multidisciplinary designer from Toronto, Canada who is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. With a background in architecture and a keen visual eye, their medium(s) span across food, drawing, and spatial planning. They began formulating their culinary identity through elaborate dinner parties thrown during architecture school. A themed party series turned zine later informed the name of the collective, "Edible Affairs". These opulent dinners were often spectacles with sculptural, interactive centerpieces, and at the root of it — always community oriented. After venturing to Brooklyn, Jamie continued collaborating with innovative design firms like Food New York to produce abundant tablescapes for their mahjong nights, a club series that received recognition in the New York Times. In the past year, Edible Affairs has produced events with/at/for the Aesop Queer Library, A+A+A, NEW Inc, and CUE Art Foundation.

[edibleaffairs.net]

jamieclcheung.ca