Let them Eat Cake - the film
Joan is a resident of Burnie and a 5th generation Tasmanian. Along with her creative pursuits, Joan is also a Chef, Chocolatier and a trained dressmaker and pattern maker. Joan is a two-time winner of the paper on skin Cocoon Designs Public Vote Award, both in 2014 and 2016.
She calls her design for 2020 ‘An elaborate frothy confection consisting of layers of mainly recycled papers’ (from entry submission). One of the primary materials used is washed and recycled baking paper previously used to line trays for Joan’s chocolate making business – an appropriate link to the Let Them Eat Cake design name.
Joan finds the process of using paper to make art very satisfying, given the intrinsic connection to Burnie’s proud industrial past. Recycling is important to Joan’s practice. She notes that ‘…making grand, designer, couture type garments out of recycled handmade papers an exciting paradox in a time where it is still accepted to wear such garments only once!’ (From Artist Statement).
The work is inspired by Marie Antionette – the young queen who was thrust into the lavish lifestyle of the French monarchy in the 1770’s. She received much public criticism during her reign, at which time there was rioting across France due to food shortages. Whilst it seems unlikely she ever said ‘Let them eat cake’, she was gradually reviled by her subjects because she represented all the excesses which they lacked.
The scrutiny she and her husband experienced is not dissimilar to how the British royals are treated at the hands of the public and the media today. The fate of modern royals may not be as brutal as that of a guillotine (how Marie Antoinette met her demise), but they are sacrificed mercilessly by the paparazzi and worldwide media.
Materials: various recycled papers – tissue, reflex, crepe, newspaper, shredded office paper
Also see our WINNERS page