The Food Group, an ongoing project by Ry Rocklen, is a comical exploration into the relationship between mankind and food. Human subjects (friends of Rocklen’s, mostly) dress up in life-sized food costumes à la Fruit of the Loom that are either rented or fabricated by Rocklen. The costumed subjects are then scanned and replicated by a 3D printer in miniature, food-sized form. The result is a collection of work that is part kitsch, part comedy, part camp, and draws viewers in to see just what exactly is going on.

Tyler, 2017, dye-sublimated gypsum, Corian, stainless steel, magnets; photo by Daniel Spizzirri.

The miniature sculptures are rooted in Surrealism as Rocklen plays with the idea of scale. We are used to seeing humans in silly food costumes. What makes the project novel is the manipulation of scale. When the subjects are inside of the costumes, the food is out of proportion and too large, while when the subject is shrunken down, the food is the correct size while the subject is not. “I’ve always had this dream of making something big and bringing it back to scale,” Rocklen says in a phone conversation. In his works, the subjects are “taken for a ride.” Last October, Rocklen debuted “Food Group” at Team gallery in New York; the series will be the focus of an upcoming major exhibition in Los Angeles in 2019.

Honor and Corrina, 2017, dye-sublimated gypsum, Corian, stainless steel, magnets; photo by Daniel Spizzirri.

When asked about the psychological nature of the project, Rocklen points to a few common emotions. Because these foods are familiar, there’s an intrinsic delight and nostalgia on viewing them, because who doesn’t like pizza? On the other hand , “there’s a kind of humiliation that’s going on with the costumes,” he says, and who wouldn’t feel at least a little embarrassed walking around and being immortalized as a sculpture in a giant hamburger costume.

Ry, 2017, dye-sublimated gypsum, Corian, stainless steel, magnets; photo by Daniel Spizzirri.

Rocklen succeeds in bringing in pathos with his humor, something often missing in artistic works. “I kind of have the clown card, I have a kind of wry sense of humor,” he says, which isn’t surprising one bit, as it’s indeed his first name.