Krystal C. Mack is a visionary designer and artist who highlights food and nature’s role in collective healing, empowerment, and decolonization, shifting society's understanding of food consumption.
Proudly born and raised in Baltimore, Mack has taken her passion for African diasporic foodways and transformed it into a dynamic and thought-provoking body of work. Through her progressive practices, she constructs spaces and objects that invite the community to engage with food and the natural world in multidimensional ways, eliciting a sensory call-and-response that acts as a transformative tool for all.
As a neurodivergent Black woman, Mack brings a unique perspective to her craft, drawing inspiration from her own experiences and heritage. With her Autism, she experiences impaired interoception, which affects her ability to identify physical pain, hunger, and thirst. Interestingly enough, this has shaped her wildly original relationship with food and nature in a way that wholeheartedly embraces the layers of her identity. She is self-taught and has honed her skills through years of dedicated study and experimentation.
Formerly a baker, Mack now primarily works as a food designer, in addition to being a social practice artist and herbalist. Her innovative approach to food and design has captured the attention of media outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, Food & Wine, and MOLD magazine. These profiles have shed light on her work and her commitment to exploring food and nature beyond the limits of traditional consumption. Krystal utilizes food design to create spaces for dialogue and inquiry, cultivating sustainable and accessible practices that support reparative futures for marginalized communities.
In 2023, Mack was awarded the United States Artist Fellowship in Architecture & Design, becoming the first artist in the history of the USA Fellowship to be honored for their work with food as an artistic medium.
Mack's work is a powerful expression of her vision and creativity, inspiring and connecting people across cultures and backgrounds. Through her art and design practices, she is leading the way in reimagining the very concept of food consumption and helping to create a much more inclusive and sustainable food system.