A cake is supposed to be made for a celebration and to evoke emotions of happiness in the eyes of the beholder. The cake sculpture that greets you will lend you sweetness with it’s taste; but the powerful theme will make the viewer relish the image long after the sweet chocolate taste of the cake has faded.

As macabre and unsettling it may seem, I would like to refer to this as a balancing act between a powerfully moving theme hereto unheard of in a cake and the underlying sweetness.

Presented here is a CHOCOLATE CAKE sculpted to evoke the distinct image burnt into the psyche of the artist when she read the theme from the project team. The theme given was just a word – ‘Bhranthi’ meaning mad woman. The single word theme is the most powerful piece from the beautiful literary jigsaw that is ‘Raathri Mazha’ by Sugathakumari, one of the most prominent literary figures from Kerala. The poem depicts rain in its different moodscapes and one of the metaphors shows the rain in its torrential fury being compared to a woman who is at the end of her senses.

The challenge was accepted knowing this is not going to be a cakewalk (oops pun) but art in all its colors and emotions is one of the greatest medium to bring awareness. Just wanted the world to see that for art to raise it’s sometimes beautiful, sometimes gruesome head and speak to it’s viewer (in the case of cake sculpture; the ones who see the cake and eat it too(oops pun again)) even a simple medium like a cake is enough.

Captured here in sweet edible fondant is the pain, anguish and the vacant eye of the beleaguered soul and her silent scream which falls, always falls on deaf ears all around. The entire work from the flaking walls to the binding chain to the wispy sari which barely covers her emaciated womanhood is made of edible fondant. The cake forms the thick floor of the sculpture; rich chocolate cake made with Belgian chocolate and covered in white chocolate ganache lends the piece a lingering taste to take home among the bittersweet emotions the sculpture evokes.

Cake Canvas is part of Kochi-Muziris Biennale in collaboration with the Malayalam Project. This cake was on display on the 31st of January 2015. It’s detailed photos will be displayed through out the duration of Kochi Muziris Biennale.

Venue: 292B, # Lilly Street, near Parade Ground, Fort Kochi, Kerala, India.

Thank you Johan Bobby Vadayatt for the ethereal capture.