Artist’s palate Charles Gaines’ candied yams

Southern-style candied yams

A groundbreaking conceptualist and educator, American artist Charles Gaines explores how art can conform to systems, and work against them. Employing rules-based processes, he generates grid-like compositions, often involving the structures of trees, faces, music and language. Gaines, who was born in Charleston, South Carolina, attributes his detailed formula for candied yams to his mother, Amelia. ‘It’s traditional Southern-style, but the difference is the use of milk, which is not usual in a Southern yam recipe.’ For Gaines’ recipe, and a full interview with the artist in our At Home With series, visit Wallpaper.com ∏