AACT x ASIALICIOUS 2022

FOOD AND THE CITY

The sense of belonging to a city is multifaceted. Regardless, food has always been a staple to one’s attachment to a place. It could be a four course meal in the city’s fine establishments, or a bowl of hot ramen from a tiny noodle shop in the dead of winter, a plate of Korean fried chicken and a pint of ice cold beer in the summer heat, some dim sum dishes before a family’s weekly grocery run.

Food is the quintessence of human existence. Accumulating through the millennia, food has transcended from being the mere sustenance that carries people through their day to something that encapsulates culture, community, and people behind the food itself.

In a world that is constantly in flux, food is something that remains immutable, offering the weary workers consolation at the end of a long hard day and reconnecting the homesick students with the taste and feeling of their family and home.

In collaboration with AsialiciousTO 2022 and Sweven Media, Asian Arts and Culture Trust (AACT) worked with five talented emerging artists and illustrators from Toronto to capture the intertwinement between food and the city. These artworks emerged through the artists’ personal experiences, distilled from years of emotional connections with the food and place in Toronto’s culturally diverse neighbourhoods.

Hosted by AACT, this pop-up exhibition, Food and the City, showcases the artworks created by the artists and aims to celebrate the food culture and the people behind it in the city of Toronto.

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SELECTED ARTWORKS

Dinner Time

‍Toronto is a city of welcoming multiculturalism and has the most diverse food scene. Toronto offers almost endless options for all kinds of Asian food, and the food is not just authentic, but also has a touch of creativity by the restaurants. Having a Korean-Canadian background, I have been naturally drawn to Asian food. Going out for dinner to Asian restaurants with a group of friends was the highlight of a tiring day after class. In Toronto, there are many famous Thai restaurants that also offer options for vegetarian/vegan friends so everyone can have the dish they want. The unique scent of spice and interior in Thai restaurants welcomes you as you step in, and you can have a joyful dining experience in an atmosphere where diversity is respected and appreciated.

Veri Lee
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‍is a Korean-Canadian illustrator and concept artist based in Toronto. She studied Illustration at OCAD University. Ever since Veri was a child, she has been fascinated by the dynamic visuals and narratives of video game culture, and it is still her inspiration when creating art. Growing up in a multicultural background, she synthesized the intersection of the two cultures in her art by perceiving the Canadian culture through the lens of her Korean heritage and integrating it into her artistic vocabulary.
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Instagram @somuchveri www.verilee.net

Saturday Afternoon

Saturday Afternoon captures the food court and food stall culture of the Asian diaspora in Toronto. When I was a child, my parents visited various grocery stores across the city in search of ingredients to create the dishes they missed from their first homes in China and Vietnam – with two bored children in tow. After the careful selection of produce I didn't recognize, we'd enjoy a meal in a humble, no-frills food court. As a child I'd long to be elsewhere, but today these food courts bring me back to those Saturday afternoons and evoke sentimental feelings of nostalgia. Food is a language that needs little interpretation, it can transcend borders and differences. Whether it's a dish that reminds us of home or introduces us to somewhere new, it can be shared around the same table.

Steph Truong

is a designer and illustrator currently working and residing in Toronto. She primarily works with digital illustration or ink and paper. The environment and space around her are what inspires her the most, trying to capture form and perspective. She also tries to portray ordinary objects one might not pay a second glance to, in a fun and memorable way.

Instagram @stfnetea
www.stephtruong.com

Tea Tower

Tea Tower is the feast of my dreams! I’m fascinated by how deeply food is intertwined with human connection, family, and memory. Many of my memories of times spent with my family and of growing up, both the good and the bad, have all been formed around food. There’s a comfort in the repetition of preparing meals and of enjoying a warm meal with friends and family. I’m interested in the space and connections created by food, the ability it has to continually excite us, comfort us, gather us, hold us together, and literally nourish us. One thing I always worried about was that I would miss out on certain connections because my family didn’t pass on any recipes to me—I had no idea how to prepare the foods that felt like home and were a part of my heritage. But over time, I slowly started to meet folks in Toronto who shared their knowledge of cooking with me. I learned that your nuclear family is not the only legitimate connection to culture. Our neighborhoods, our communities, our friends, come together around food.

Neon Buffet

Neon Buffet, a vibrant digital painting, pays homage to Toronto’s dense and diverse Asian food cultures under a crescent moon. The lights and colours of this piece are inspired by late nights under a warm neon glow and memories of celebrating every occasion with food. Even on the coldest nights, the warmth of a hot meal is always better together.

Anson Ng

is a painter and illustrator who falls in love with places. His family owned a restaurant where he spent his formative years eating spring rolls under tables and later working between the dining room and kitchen for his early adult life. He decided to return to art after spending years in the culinary industry to nurture a different type of creative expression. Anson’s paintings capture places through the passing of time using changes in seasons, weather, and celestial bodies as part of his visual vocabulary. Using these natural changes in scenery, he shows both the beauty and impermanence of places.

Instagram @hello.anson
www.helloanson.com

Nasi Lemak at Sunset

‍Nasi Lemak at Sunsetis based heavily on the nostalgia of food experiences I've had in different areas of Toronto and the GTA. In this piece, I chose to highlight Malaysian food because it is a cuisine that is so diverse in history, culture, and flavours. As a child, my family would make trips to the Agincourt Court area in Scarborough to indulge in the flavours of home. Nasi lemak, satay and kueh lapis are some of my favourite dishes to pick up when I'm in the area. This artwork is based heavily on nostalgia for my childhood and of eating Malaysian food with my family. In this piece, you’ll find larger-than-life Nasi Lemak, Satay telephone lines, and Kueh Lapis buildings all synthesized into the suburban landscape of Agincourt. My intention was to capture the feeling you have when you leave your favourite restaurant with a full and happy tummy, driving home at sunset with the people you love.

Meegan Lim

is an illustrator and arts facilitator based in Brampton, Ontario. She is known for her detailed illustrations focusing on food and cultural identity, and the vast stories within those intersections. From family reunions at Dim Sum to karaoke on New Years' Eve at her favourite Malaysian restaurant, her childhood memories are rooted in the many boroughs of Toronto and the GTA.

Instagram @meeganlim www.meeganlim.com

FOOD AND THE CITY

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SELECTED ARTWORKS

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