Baker deals with heartbreak by covering cakes in hurtful words from exes

“Engage with the uncomfortable, sticky feelings of a broken heart"

(Isabella Giancarlo)

When an artist couldn’t shake the hurt she felt after her relationship broke down, she emblazoned the words that affected her most across inviting desserts to move forward.

Adding her friends' bitter experiences into the mix, Isabella Giancarlo turned the pain into an art project.

The result is Eat Your Heart Out, where empty clichés are moulded in sweet pastry and displayed against sugary backdrops of thick, burgundy jams; saccharine mutlicoloured sprinkles; and near-burnt pie crusts.

“For me, a loss of appetite typically accompanies the end of a relationship. This is always particularly distressing, as I love to cook. How could I sweeten words that initially took my appetite away?” she told The Independent.

(Isabella Giancarlo)

“I asked friends for their heartbreak quotes and felt those familiar pangs. You didn’t need to understand the intricacies of a relationship to feel the weight of those final words.”

Baking is a meditative experience, and desert is an indulgence which suggests the permission to “go ahead” and gorge. It seemed like the perfect outlet, Giancarlo explained.

“Engage with the uncomfortable, sticky feelings of a broken heart that are so often dismissed as self-indulgent. Devour and reclaim the words that caused you pain.”

Since sharing her project, she has received hundreds more submissions from strangers who have contacted her via her website.

“The lines selected are typically concise and pack an emotional punch. Some are familiar break-up cliches, like 'We can still be friends' or 'It’s not you, it’s me,' which nevertheless resonate, while other quotes read more like poetry and peak curiosity about its backstory."

“In some ways, baking each phrase can dismantle the power those words hold. Yet, sometimes I spend all this time with a phrase and still can’t bare to eat it.”

She hopes that the image will help the viewer engage with their own experiences and understand what they need in that moment.

“Do they need an opportunity to mourn? Do they need a chance to laugh? I hope the series creates space to do both and foster a novel sense of camaraderie around heartbreak.”

(Isabella Giancarlo)

Giancarlo will be exhibiting a selection of her prints in a New York gallery beginning in March, and hopes to continue to explore how people engage with heartbreak via gallery installations and a printed book.

And her advice for those who are experiencing a break up? “I genuinely believe in the phrase, 'Living well is the best revenge'.”