13 FASCINATING FOOD ARTISTS AND SCULPTORS

Someone must have told the following artists not to play with their food way too many times, to the point
that it became a rebellious habit that some might describe as a psychosis. Regardless of how they became
inspired to use food as an art medium or subject, these food artists and sculptors have created some amazing
foodscapes, paintings, sculptures and even entire rooms that are at times mouthwatering and at others
stomach turning. With masterpieces like bacon villages and a pope made of pizza, here are 13 of the most
creative food artists around who truly practice a strange art of design.
1. Jason Mecier
Jason Mecier is a mosaic artist who creates portraits made of unexpected materials namely, food. Potato
chips, beans, hamburger buns, candy, cookies, noodles, and pretzels come together to portray the images
of celebrities like Rosie ODonnell, Rachel Ray, Jerry Seinfeld and Kristy Yamaguchi. The subjects of his
portraits have left comments on his website like this gem from Boy George: How fabulous! Im a linguine
head.
2. Christel Assante
French sculptor Christel Assante uses the naturally delicate qualities of eggshells to create sculptures that
are extraordinarily fragile, creating designs that almost resemble lacework in their intricacy. Assante creates
custom designs for buyers, working in mostly quail and goose eggs. Each egg takes her about 3 to 4 days to
sculpt. The eggs are lit from a small bulb placed inside through a hole in the bottom.
3. Jim Victor
Sculptor Jim Victor spends hours in extremely cold freezers sculpting mounds and mounds of butter into life-
size figures of horses, children, and of course, cows. Butter isnt the only food material he works with he
has created sculptures in chocolate and cheese as well as mounds of fruits and vegetables. He also works in
traditional media like bronze and wood.
4. Carl Warner
Deep purple cabbage leaves stand in for a moonlit sea, while salmon slices resemble a lake glittering in the
midday sun. Herb grass, broccoli trees, baguette mountains, potato rocks and red onion hot air balloons
create surreal landscapes in the foodscapes of artist Carl Warner. Warner sketches out the scenes first and
then uses pins and super glue to hold together his creations, which take a few days each to complete.
5. Giuseppe Arcimboldo
Renaissance artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo was perhaps the first artist to use food to create a mosaic image,
though his work was in paint, not made of food itself. This image, Summer, is part of a seasonal series and
features a human profile made up of fruits and vegetables. His work had a surreal quality long before the
advent of the Surrealist Art movement, and his food portraits no doubt inspired some of the other artists
on this list.
6. Zhanna Bakery
In St. Petersburg, Russia, a bakery called Zhanna is giving cake artists all over the world a run for their money.
Zhanna has created some of the most insanely amazing cakes in the history of human civilization, from
treasure chests full of edible jewelry and flats of Pepsi cans to life-size sewing machines and hamburgers
that look so realistic, youd almost be surprised to bite into it and realize its cake.
 7. James Parker
James Parker of Veggy Art creates some of the most incredible fruit and vegetable sculptures, and has been
featured repeatedly on the Food Network, including a Fantasy Fruit Sculpture challenge (for which he won
the gold metal in a rematch). Fruit and vegetable carving has been popular for food garnishing in Asia since
ancient times and has evolved into works of art that outshine the food itself.
8. Mike McCarey
Pastry chef Mike McCarey translates clients ideas into confectionery masterpieces, making edible sculptures
that are about as amazing as they get. Dogs, dinosaurs, musical instruments, shoes, sports equipment and
dozens of other items get the sugar-and-flour treatment in sculptural cakes that are almost too beautiful to
eat.
9. Robin Antar
Award-winning sculptor Robin Antar doesnt use food as a medium she carves stone into incredibly lifelike
replicas of food including a ketchup bottle, candy, cookies and soft drinks. The Brooklyn artists pop art
sculptures have been featured on HGTV and shes currently working on a giant replica of a Heinz ketchup
bottle for the companys corporate headquarters.
10. Song Dong
Chinese artist Song Dong and a cast of builders created this Biscuit City in a London department store. The
scene depicts a traditional Asian city complete with a stadium and a church, and while Dong says he designed
a few of the buildings, they mostly made it up as they went along. An estimated 72,000 biscuits were used
along with tea, caramels and fruit shortcake.
11. Ray Duey
Ray Duey of Chef Garnish uses apples, melons and other fruit as a medium for beautiful table arrangements.
Duey is an acclaimed produce carver who uses small, sharp tools to carve fruit into stunning shapes and
designs. Duey squared off against previously mentioned produce sculptor James Parker in two Food Network
Challenges, winning the first one while Parker one the rematch.
12. Tams Balla
This incredible artist animates food in ways you would never imagine, transforming ordinary fruits and loves
of bread into pieces and parts of strange stories, complete with offbeat implications, curious perspectives
and unique facial expressions.
13. Prudence Emma Staite
A contemporary artist that works almost entirely in chocolate, Prudence Emma Staite wants people to
experience her art with all of their senses. She creates jewelry, paintings, sculpture, games and even entire
rooms from chocolate but the sweet stuff isnt her only favorite medium. She also made sculptures of the
Colosseum, Spanish Steps and Pope Benedict XVI using enough pizza dough to make 500 pizzas for an exhibit
at the Museum of London.