13 FASCINATING

FOOD ARTISTS AND

SCULPTORS
F-2
MARIA ZEA YAGUA
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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
 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.
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.
THANK YOU