By Harriet Monzon-Aguirre
Trip to Tampa Fresh Foods
Lucy Sparrow’s Immersive Art Installation
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Through February 20
Free
Water Street, Tampa
Details here
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Grocery shopping with young children is an adventure in itself but quite beneficial for practicing certain skills. It’s good practice for writing shopping lists, for math by counting produce and money, for organization and locating items – and for practicing my own patience by making sure everyone behaves until the check-out counter.
Yesterday evening my three children and I went on a shopping experience like no other, to a store where all the grocery items were available for purchase but not consumable in their traditional sense. We took a trip to Water Street to see Lucy Sparrow’s art installation Tampa Fresh Foods, on view until February 20.
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Felt artist Lucy Sparrow is one of the most exciting and original artists working in the UK today. Her practice is quirky yet subversive, luring the audience in with her soft, tactile, colourful felt creations before hitting them hard with her comment on subjects from the demise of the traditional high street to issues around gun control and mental health. In 2016, the BBC commissioned Lucy to recreate the Crown Jewels in felt, to celebrate the Queen’s official 90th birthday.
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Our objective was to buy a unique gift as a birthday present for my daughter’s friend, one of 50,000 hand-created signed artworks by this British artist. I also wanted to see what my three would make of an immersive art installation where everything is made entirely of felt.
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Firstly, the “Look, don’t touch” rule was abandoned when we entered the store. How could my kids resist the temptation to grab the cute felt objects with their black beady eyes beaming up at us? How could I? Thomas the younger one saw the felt art objects as toys. He wanted to pull them all out onto the floor as any toddler his age would so I had to hold him.
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Madeline loved the place – she wanted to explore every nook and cranny and was determined to find something that was not made of felt. She couldn’t. She also took enjoyment in being the first to find the cutest items.
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William was astonished by the attention to detail, especially the logos on the puffed cheese packets. Out of the entire store, they were especially drawn to the vegetable, cheese and seafood sections.
We made our way to the check-out, and that’s when they saw the eggs. They fell in love immediately, caressing and delicately holding them as though they were real eggs. We ended up buying more than one piece of artwork but it was worth it.
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We took a photo with the artist, Lucy Sparrow. I had so many questions that I wanted to ask her – would she describe the aesthetic as Kawaii, the culture of cuteness in Japan? How did she feel about current shopping trends especially with the onset of the pandemic? Does she believe there is still a distinction between fine art and craft? Yet with three little ones vying for attention, all I could say was, “Thank you. Your work is amazing.”
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Over the causeway, on our return home, I tried to explain what ‘installation’ means, and how the artist is the creator of all the work because she created the concept and design.
I think I was processing the experience out loud but my words fell on deaf ears anyway as all three were busy playing with their cherished possessions. The adorable eggs have now become part of our story and family.
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Explore Lucy Sparrow’s work at sewyoursoul.co.uk
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Photos by Harriet Monzon-Aguirre
