northwest portraits, 2006

A Billboard Project 

8 x 13 ft

Participants & their dishes: Hema Ramachandran: Poppy seed rice with peas and cashews. Maryrose Mendoza: Lumpia egg rolls and Pancit noodle dish. Wanni Yu: Sweet and sour orange chicken. Leticia Meza: Enchiladas. Jo Anne Edmond: Collard greens and cornbread. Mindy Pfeiffer: Bagels and cream cheese with lox, tomatoes, and onions. Sumi Chang: Rice noodle with spinash. Elise Barclay: Mariquitas fried plaintains and guava cheese pastry.

I was matched with Mindy Pfeiffer a Pasadena Northwest resident to work on a billboard project commissioned by Newtown. Inspired by Mindy’s commitment to slow food movement, I organized a potluck/performance with eight women who represent the ethnic make up of Pasadena by asking each participant to bring a dish representative of her own culture. The billboard shows a positive interaction between these women who represent a diversity of cultures and tastes in the community.