Eye Candy
Love Hearts Collection
Eye Candy
Eye Candy is a series from artist Renée Melo which is a visual exploration into our love for sweets, in particular the mix of senses of how their colours can immediately transport you to flavours, memories and feelings. It’s a study into objects of mass culture and nothing brings more excitement to a child or adult than seeing a familiar sweet in front of them. Because she uses real sweets the artwork can change over time, which is why each sweet in this series is paired with a Pantone chip that has been meticulously matched to lock the original colour in time.
This Love Hearts collection uses the world famous Swizzles Love Hearts. A sweet that has been in production since 1928 featuring over 100 messages and comes in 6 different flavours. Like all of Renée’s work the messages add an extra layer of playfulness creating unique combinations to tell individual stories.
Renée believes art is the perfect vehicle to raise awareness and spread good in the world, that’s why each series supports a different charity and cause. Eye candy Love Hearts has teamed up with Heart Heroes. Where every item sold will help towards their cause, culminating in a silent auction of an artwork called “Super Heart” where 100% of the profits will go to children and their families living with Heart Conditions which is in the spot light as February is National Heart Awareness month.
A charity full of heart
When thinking of a charity to support with this art we stumbled across the fantastic work that Heart Heroes does. They work with children and their families living with heart conditions. They aim to provide services for these children, to help them meet others who are in similar situations and allow their family to talk to other families going through related experiences.
Heart defects are diagnosed in at least 1 in 150 births – that's an average of 13 babies each day in the UK – with more diagnoses later in life. Heart defects are the most common congenital anomaly in babies born in the UK.
Heart Heroes support children with heart diseases aged 0 – 16, organise events and provide socialising opportunities for children to attend and most importantly aim to introduce families with similar experiences so that they can support each other.
“I want to create art with colours you can almost taste. Playful pieces that change over time. Art that is sweet to look at and that serves a good cause.”
— Renée Melo
About Renée
Brazilian born Renée Melo has spent her career taking inspiration from all corners of the world. From growing up watching Rainbow bright in San Diego to securing a residency at the world famous creative lab Fabrica, in Treviso Italy. Her aim is to fill the world with colour one project at a time.
