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Emily Chappell | Mini Meltdowns

posted by POP Members April 30, 2024

Mini Meltdowns is the latest print release from Glasgow-based illustrator and printmaker Emily Chappell. The 4-colour silkscreen forms part of her Millennial Foods series, which offers a tongue-in-cheek look at the false hopes often portrayed in advertising.

Emily’s work often centres around food and the growing of it; the good food, the bad food, and the ‘ugly’. She tells us; “I have had an urban allotment and nearby studio in Glasgow for around 15 years. The two spaces have shaped how I understand the world in a post-industrial landscape, and therefore the kind of subject matter I am drawn to.” 

The idea for Mini Meltdowns and the ongoing series was inspired by Emily’s love/hate relationship with processed foods, and her reading of The Way We Eat Now by Bee Wilson.

“I appreciate vintage packaging design and the comforting memories and feelings that it invokes, yet I am very aware of the false hope products promise us, and the often detrimental affect on our health. However, I am comfortable in this grey area/space – I can both admire and question. Others may not be. These are polarising times. You are either for or against something.”

The piece began after she made lots of sketches and notes on catchy and cheesy copy. She then looked at how these are often tied to modern anxieties. Emily also analysed existing ads, both vintage and present day, but ultimately drew out an intuitive poster design that is clearly hand-drawn, thus undercutting a slick advertised promise. The work was then printed on her large flat silkscreen bed in her studio.

Emily has lots more ideas in the works for her Millennial Foods series, offering more fake ads for false hope. Currently, she is working on an exciting new comic book project relating to migraines. The comic will feature a little bit of food too,  as it often gets demonised as a migraine ‘trigger’.

www.emilychappell.com
@emilychappellillustration

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