And they all cook with cabbage

9 x 24 x 15 inches, wool/silk yarns, mulberry paper, wire, rigid foam, canvas, gel medium, wood, acrylic paint, printed recipes

The sculpture explores commonalities among people – whether recent immigrants or longstanding residents. I used cabbage as a unifying symbol. It is an unremarkable peasant food common to many cultures. When my great-grandparents first came to America from the shtetls of Eastern Europe they settled their family on the Minnesota Iron Range. Their neighbors came from Finland, Austria-Hungary, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Canada, England. And, more likely than not, they all ate cabbage. I am sure many kitchens on the Iron Range were redolent of sweet-and-sour cabbage rolls, sauerkraut, colcannon, or cabbage borscht. The printed recipes spread out at the base of this sculpture are but a sample of the ways these new Americans cooked cabbage. Leaving the country of one’s birth because of violence, political oppression, or economic deprivation entails enormous effort. It means dangerous travel and great uncertainty as to how one will be received in the U.S. What we all have in common is food and a desire to live a better life.

This piece received the second place award in Arts Connect at the Catamount Arts, St. Johnsbury VT in 2019

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Artwork and images ©2018 Eve Jacobs-Carnahan