Mia Boe

Mia Boe is a painter from Meanjin (Brisbane). She is currently based in Naarm (Melbourne), working from a studio at Gertrude Contemporary. Her work is informed by her matrilineal family, Badtjala, from K'Gari (Fraser Island).

Image Credit - Amelia Stanwix

When I first thought about painting food, I remembered Salvador Dali’s cookbook I saw in a book shop around 10 years ago. I love his depictions of food in vast surreal landscapes. I wanted to make a painting that clearly depicted the ingredients in the recipe whilst also being a little bit odd — which came out in the various crockery being in different body part shapes, as well as the figures in the background to add an unknown narrative. Cured fish is my absolute favourite. My grandma made salmon gravlax for special occasions. My sister and I would always devour it in fear of not getting enough... My mum taught me how to cure fish and now it's something I do all the time. This cured fish plate has drawn inspiration from the many Jewish delis in New York where I ate a lot when I lived there in 2018. I feel like there are few places to eat this type of food in Melbourne and I would say it's one of the dishes people have often travelled to Florian to eat. - Chef, Dom Gattermayr