Martika Hallworth

Project title: Using food to make art: Assessing mood, affect, and hunger change

During early childhood, Martika fondly recalls spending an afternoon painting with her mother. She joyfully mixed and layered paints until all the colours blended into a muddy puddle that stained the front porch forever. Martika cherishes this memory as the moment she discovered the wonder of art. 

From then on, her creative journey continued. Martika learnt textile arts from her grandmother, graphic drawing from her father, and together with her brothers constructed all sorts of radical skate ramps and obstacle courses. With friends, she embarked on literary adventures, penning and illustrating countless storybooks. Martika initially embarked on a career in environmental engineering but ultimately followed her passion for mental health work, working in the field for the past few years. On placement, Martika enjoys facilitating group art therapy sessions and witnessing participants find connection with their art, their inner self, and with others. 

This year, Martika investigated the use food as an art resource. It's an activity that some people may recall doing in childhood, where macaroni became jewellery, vegetables were carved into stamps, and cabbage used to tie dye. Little research was discoverable on the experience of interacting with food in an artistic way without consuming it, so Martika chose to study this gap in knowledge. She designed her project to assess the impact of making art with foods on participant mood, affect, and hunger. Insights were also gained on what the experience was like and what thoughts came to mind for participants during the process. This research may offer insights for practitioners supporting clients to explore their relationship with food and food cues. 

When art-making, Martika prefers to focus on the process rather than the product. Her guiding principle is not the image she aims to produce, but rather the sensations and movements the chosen materials support her to express. Because of this, she likes to think of the art materials as allies to her creative process and selects mediums based on the sensory experience she desires. Throughout her project, Martika produced several artworks to chronicle the experience of conducting research. She used a variety of materials, adapting her choice to suit the evolving needs of her creative expression.