NEPTUNO
SOL
MARTE
TIERRA
VENUS
CITRUS
OLIVE OIL
CRUNCH
BIO
IN AN INCREASINGLY DIGITAL AND ISOLATING WORLD, JOANNA W. CUERVO IS THE ARTIST AND CHEF CHALLENGING SYSTEMS OF CONSUMPTION THROUGH IMMERSIVE, COLLECTIVE EXPERIENCE.
THROUGH HER PRACTICE, KOMETA, SHE CREATES TEMPORARY EDIBLE ECOSYSTEMS — WHERE AUDIENCES GATHER, CONSUME, AND PARTICIPATE, TRANSFORMING FOOD INTO MOMENTS OF CONNECTION, PLAY, AND REFLECTION. ROOTED IN IMPERMANENCE AND SUSTAINABILITY, SHE USES PLANT-BASED MATERIALS TO EXPLORE HUMANITY'S PLACE WITHIN ECOLOGICAL AND COSMIC SYSTEMS. BETWEEN THE ABSURD AND THE SURREAL, HER INSTALLATIONS OPEN PORTALS INTO ALTERNATE REALITIES WHERE NEW FORMS OF CONNECTION EMERGE.
BARCELONA-BORN AND LA-BASED, CUERVO BRINGS A MICHELIN SENSITIVITY TO HER WORK. SHE IS THE CO-FOUNDER OF POCO WITH CHEF MINH PHAN — AN ART COLLECTIVE PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF ART AND FOODWAYS. HER LATEST WORK, ‘UNEARTHED’, AT THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM OF LOS ANGELES WAS FEATURED IN LA MAGAZINE AND NAMED FAVORITE ART EXPERIENCE OF THE YEAR 2025.
MANIFESTO
WE ARE MORE REACHABLE THAN EVER AND LONELIER THAN WE HAVE BEEN IN GENERATIONS. THIRD SPACES ARE GONE.
SHARED MEALS ARE DISAPPEARING. RITUAL HAS BEEN SWAPPED FOR CONVENIENCE AND CONNECTION FOR CONTENT. WE HAVE BEEN QUIETLY SEPARATED — FROM OUR SENSES, OUR BODIES, FROM EACH OTHER, AND FROM THE NATURAL CYCLES WE ARE STILL PART OF. WE CONSUME CONSTANTLY AND FEEL LESS AND LESS. I MAKE ART ABOUT THAT HUNGER FOR CONNECTION. AND I MAKE IT OUT OF FOOD.
FOOD IS THE ONLY MEDIUM THAT CANNOT BE EXPERIENCED AT A DISTANCE. IT DEMANDS YOUR BODY, YOUR TIME, YOUR PRESENCE — AND UNLIKE ANY OTHER, IT ENDS UP INSIDE YOU. MY INSTALLATIONS ARE IMMERSIVE ENVIRONMENTS — EDIBLE ECOSYSTEMS — BUILT ENTIRELY FROM EDIBLE MATERIALS, CARVED AND CAST INTO WORLDS DESIGNED TO BE DESTROYED.
YOU DON'T STAND IN FRONT OF THEM. YOU EAT YOUR WAY THROUGH THEM — BURIAL FEASTS, EXCAVATION PITS, CELESTIAL CEREMONIES, OTHERWORLDLY LANDSCAPES — ROOMS WHERE STRANGERS GATHER FOR HOURS, REDISCOVERING THE MATERIAL WORLD THROUGH THEIR SENSES.
THE SOUL OF MY PRACTICE IS SOBREMESA — THE SPANISH TRADITION OF STAYING AT THE TABLE LONG AFTER THE MEAL ENDS, WHEN THE FOOD IS GONE AND WHAT REMAINS IS ONLY PEOPLE, TIME, AND THE WILLINGNESS TO LINGER. I GREW UP WITH IT IN BARCELONA. I LOST IT WHEN I IMMIGRATED. THE PANDEMIC TOOK IT FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD TOO. FOOD WAS THE ONLY LANGUAGE I HAD LEFT TO FIND MY WAY BACK.
I AM NOT OFFERING COMFORT. MY WORK INVERTS THE LOGIC OF EMOTIONAL EATING ENTIRELY — FOOD IS NOT ESCAPE, IT'S A PORTAL. TO CONSUME THE WORK IS TO DO THE EMOTIONAL WORK — AND TO REMEMBER, BRIEFLY, THAT YOU ARE A BODY AMONG BODIES, ON A PLANET THAT WILL OUTLAST ALL OF US.
AUDIENCES ENTER THROUGH BEAUTY AND ARRIVE — THROUGH CHEWING, THROUGH TASTING, THROUGH THE STRANGE INTIMACY OF EATING BESIDE SOMEONE THEY DON'T KNOW — AT SOMETHING THEY DIDN'T COME PREPARED TO FEEL. WHAT SURVIVES IS THE TIME PEOPLE SPENT INSIDE THEM, TOGETHER. THAT DURATION — THE SOBREMESA OF THE WORK ITSELF — IS THE PIECE. IN A CITY AS FRAGMENTED AND FAST AS LOS ANGELES, WHERE SCREENS HAVE REPLACED SKIN AND IG FEEDS HAVE REPLACED THE TABLE — IT'S A PROPOSAL FOR HOW TO BE ALIVE.
