An illustrator’s memories of meals gone by – in pictures

“Food is a big thing in my family,” says illustrator Maggie Cowles. “Growing up in New York, we’d to go to Chinatown all the time; family gatherings always happened in the kitchen.” She tries to capture that warmth of community and cooking in her elaborate dinner-table illustrations, evoking what she calls “food memory”. Cowles designed fashion textiles before turning to illustration during the pandemic. “In fashion, when you design the main print of the season, it incorporates all the colours of the palette. It’s called a roadmap or hero print. That word pops into my mind when I draw sushi. Black, white, orange, green, red … the whole rainbow in a dish!”

Main image: Pass the salt: colourful memories captured by the illustrator Maggie Cowles.

Sat 13 May 2023 12.00 EDT

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