Food Art Week

'Sugar Colon' is an custom sugar art piece for 2018 Food Art Week, Mexico City. It is to highlight the negative impact that sugar has on our mental health. According to the World Health Organization, over 300 million people of all ages are affected by mental illness worldwide.

This piece contains 4 colons and 1 semi colon, representing the 1 in 5 adults who are experiencing mental illness in any given year.

Each circle of the colon is made from 38 grams of sugar (the American heart association's recommend daily maximum intake for men). The semi colon contains 67 grams of sugar. Anika Knüppel's 2017 study on mental health disorders showed that men who consume 67 grams or more of sugar are 23% more likely to have mental health issues after 5 years.

While the circle of colon is infused with single food graded color and molded from muffin tin; the semi-colon is swirled with multi-color and was pulled and shaped by hand to highlight the significant of the semi-colon. The Semi-colon, a symbol of hope and solidarity for people with mental illness, is a project started by Amy Bluel that aims to “present hope and love to those struggling with depression, suicide, addiction, and self-injury.”

In addition to Amy Bluel's initiative, the colon represents a call of action inspired by the WHO mental health wellness campaign, #LetsTalk.

Semicolons and colons create a pause, a break, a moment of reflection between connected subjects in a sentence. This piece aims to effect a similar impact on its viewer. To pause, raise awareness, and then encourage action.