Artist Kayleigh Heydon believes everyone can be an artist, but not everyone can make a good cup of tea
With beginnings in sculpture and conceptual art in the UK, Kayleigh Heydon moved to Melbourne ten years ago and has since incorporated painting, ceramics and music into her practice.
Don't be offended, but you're probably making your humble cup of tea wrong. When we investigate the subtleties of tea making with Manchester born and raised Kayleigh, it gets heated pretty quick. She's from the North and she needs it strong. Whilst apparently no one wants to be "The Tea Master" in Britain (too much pressure to be the person making everyone's cuppa), they certainly have an opinion on how each one should be made. According to Kayleigh, it can get very political (depending on where you're from).
We were so impressed when Kayleigh mentioned that she's cooked 90% of most of her cookbook collection. She absolutely loves to use cookbooks, but this wasn't always the case. It was when she decided to cook recipes from one book cover to cover and to keep track of her ingredients and spending that things began to feel incredible. She has gone from very intuitive and reactive cooking to actually using cookbooks and loving the process. She provided us with proof - her treasured A5 notebook full of her recipe plans, shopping lists, market-visit plans and budgeting notes. There's even musical notations and chord progressions for her band Deuce in there too.
A QUICK WHIP AROUND THE INGREDIENTS THAT MAKE UP KAYLEIGH
PRONOUNS: She / Her
HOMETOWN: Manchester UK and Naarm / Melbourne
JOB DESCRIPTION: Multi-disciplinary artist, Ceramicist, Musician
Something that struck us when we began unpacking the Starving Artist myth were the realities of being an artist in Australia in contrast to the UK. Kayleigh’s very aware of how the myth can be used to "other" people in conversations or interactions and finds it an awful way of devaluing someone who is a professional creative.
In our chat, we all agree that calling someone a ‘Starving Artist’ can be an easy way to create a quick and unbalanced hierarchy where the artist is always at the bottom.
In this episode, we discuss the ‘elephant in the arts industry’ - the gender divide between representation and support of male artists and female / non binary artists.
More resources here.
When it comes to her favourite places in the city of Melbourne, the Preston Market is in her all time top five destinations. You already know how much we love the Preston Market, and it was wonderful to chat about specifics - Kayleigh loves chatting to her favourite butcher and asking for tips and recipe-specific cuts of meat. It's such a crucial community meeting place and we share a collective moment of respect and alarm at the current situation regarding the proposed destruction of the market. You can click here to learn more about the petition to demand that the site be compulsorily bought by the local council and the state government. This ensures that this cultural icon will be owned and controlled by the community and not private developers. More here too.
Grab a meticulously made cup of tea and join us as Kayleigh shares her prawn and green mango salad recipe, her kitchen super power and the most epic kitchen disaster story that left us speechless.
Join us to find out What Kayleigh Heydon Eats.
WHAT KAYLEIGH HEYDON EATS
PRAWN AND GREEN MANGO SALAD
Kayleigh’s recipe is a true work of art
This dish gives Kayleigh big Summer energy.
After discovering some green mangoes at the Preston Market, Kayleigh spoke to the seller and got some ideas for a dish that she felt would become her Summer party dish. Think: crunchy, fresh and vibrant.
It hits all the flavour points and is easy, yet tastes complex.
Hip tips:
don’t fry the prawns (buy them cooked or cook them gently yourself)
this dish is all about texture, especially the crunch
put the dressing on at the last minute so it doesn’t go soggy
drink it with a trashy mango puree bellini
A SNIPPET OF KAYLEIGH’S FAMOUS NOTEBOOK - FULL OF SHOPPING LISTS, CHORD PROGRESSIONS, MEAL PLANS & MISC FOOD LISTS
LINKS & MENTIONS
LINKS TO ARTIST INFORMATION, RESOURCES AND ANYTHING ELSE WE CHATTED ABOUT
INFORMATION AND TAKEAWAYS FROM OUR CHAT
Keep your shopping lists and meal plans so you can refer back to them
Kayleigh loves English Breakfast Tea ("Breakie Tea") and is very specific about how it’s made
She has an "English Treat Drawer" at home - it's a drawer full of British treats that aren't available in Australia, sent over by her parents in a big box
Think before you use a colander, then think AGAIN!
You're not a failure if you need a second job to support your art practice