@shi.shij / shishijacobs.cargo.site
Breaking Bread explores how design can nourish empathy,
expand accessibility, and stir cultural exchange through food
as a shared medium. Growing up in a predominantly White
suburb, I had little opportunity to understand my Asian heritage.
This changed when I was 12 and discovered Cooking with Dog,
a Japanese YouTube home-cooking show that introduced me
to new flavors and sparked a desire to cook. YouTube became
an accessible archive and community of culinary knowledge,
one I consumed, translated, and adapted to my own evolving
palate and skillset. My curiosity about this new arena of flavor
transformed food into a creative playground, a way to question
my own cultural assumptions, and a medium for bringing
people together.
As a designer, I now blend my love for food with
my practice, treating it as a vessel for dialogue and deeper
understanding. Breaking Bread seeks to cultivate community,
challenge assumptions, and bridge cultural divides, just as
Cooking with Dog began to do for me. Through a recipe zine
workshop that welcomes participants and cuisines of all
backgrounds, Breaking Bread offers a communal table where
food’s cultural legacies and social impact are explored. My
thesis culminates in a set of zines featuring recipes, reflections,
and artwork from workshop participants, as well as interactive
printed ephemera. By emphasizing inclusivity, this thesis invites
participants into a “discomfort zone” where they engage with
unfamiliar flavors, narratives, and experiences. Breaking Bread
harnesses food’s emotional and cultural ties to foreground
empathy and build more open, inclusive spaces for social
awareness and personal growth.
Boston University College of Fine Arts
School of Visual Arts