A former professor is exploring her childhood and relationship with food via an art exhibit that formally opens Friday at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.
Kathy Bussert-Webb, a professor emeritus in the university’s bilingual and literacy studies department, is hosting an opening reception for her exhibit titled “Glorious Food, Glorious Earth” on Friday.
The exhibit explores Bussert-Webb’s food memories as a second-generation American, a news release for the event said.
“Food sits at the centerpiece of Kathy’s interdisciplinary practice, which explores gender, abuse, health, consumption and farm animals,” the announcement said.
It also reflects on Bussert-Webb’s mother and the impacts she made on her lifestyle.
“Kathy’s refugee mother experienced food insecurity, which she projected by having Kathy and her five siblings eat until stuffed,” the release said.
And it’s even trickled into her art.
“For instance, she used resin in three installations to signify a toxic childhood experience,” the release said. “She also ‘upcycles’ materials because she hoards and improvises, like her late mother.”
In one piece, for example, Bussert-Webb incorporates leather from a ripped couch cushion that she saved after replacing the cushion 10 years ago.
“Kathy invites participants to use their senses when interacting with her work, like smelling bacon, opening doors, rattling soft sculptures, and turning pages of a children’s book the size of a twin mattress,” the release said, noting she was a 2021 fellow at the Chautauqua School of Visual Arts, in Chautauqua, New York.
The reception will run from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Art Annex Gallery located at 2412 S. Closner Blvd., and will feature performance and socially engaged art, as well as Hungarian gulyas, or meat stew.
Bussert-Webb, who received her Ph.D. in language education from Indiana University, will also open her first pop-up installation at the International Museum of Art and Science in April.
The exhibit will be on view until April 1.
Monitor news editor Naxiely Lopez-Puente contributed to this report.
