Words of the Broken-Hearted Baked into Yummy Desserts

New York-based photographer Isabella Giancarlo calls them “heartbreak quotes.” They’re the words people say when they’re breaking up— the opposite of a Hallmark card, though often almost as trite. In order to “sweeten” these brief and painful verses, she baked them into some of her favorite treats for the series EAT YR HEART OUT.

The offbeat project was initially inspired by her own fractured heart and the symptomatic appetite loss that came with it. Due to the emotional tax of a breakup, she found herself unable to stomach foods she once savored, and in order work through the messiness of saying goodbye, she faced it head-on.

From her friends, she gathered various excuses, outbursts, and truths uttered during the close of a romantic relationship. She also invites strangers to submit their own via her website. Once baked and photographed, each agonizing sample undergoes one of two catharses: either it’s eaten with friends or tossed in the trash, never to be heard from again.

Says the artist, “To me, desserts suggest: Go ahead. Gorge. Engage with the uncomfortable, sticky feelings that are so often dismissed as self-indulgent.”

All images © Isabella Giancarlo

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