Canto Cutie - Volume 3

Adrienne Hugh
Hong Kong
The farther I have moved away from my cultural and ancestral home, the more
desperately I try to grasp at things that connect me to it. One of the more
visceral ways I do so is through food. The smells, flavors and colors bring me
such joy and immediate connections to home and are a crucial part of my
identity.
I love oyster sauce" is a series of four photos, which I combined together into
a single graphic.
The process for creating this piece was a pretty natural one – it started off as a
genuine interest and love for the sauce itself and the iconic packaging. Oyster
sauce is such a staple in Chinese cooking, and for me the Lee Kum Kee oyster
sauce is iconic. I decided to recreate the graphic on the bottle in the form of a
photograph – replacing the existing figure (the illustrated woman) and
placing myself as the subject of the graphic in the exact pose and style of the
original image. I think this does a number of things: 1. It draws the viewer's
attention to a very ordinary, everyday object, and draws the eye to an often
overlooked design element on the bottle. 2. The piece plays around with the
reality of the oyster sauce as an everyday household item that becomes much
more personalized. The oval frame around the photograph is also intentional
– mimicking the graphic on the original bottle, but with a contemporary twist.
Overall the piece is an homage to aesthetics and graphics of the bottle, and a
love letter to the product itself.
About Adrienne Hugh
adriennehugh.com
Adrienne Hugh (she/her) is a visual creative with an obsession for tea. Having
lived in the US, China and Hong Kong throughout her life, her creative
practice is a means by which she connects with the duality of her cultural
identities.
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